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Class 
Book 



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Copyright In^_. 



CDKRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



HOW TO TEACH AGRICULTURE 



LippiNCOTT's Farm Manuals 

Edited by K. C. DAVIS, Ph.D., Knapp School of Country Life. Nashville, Tenn. 

PRODUCTIVE SWINE HUSBANDRY 1915 

By GEORGE E. DAY, B.S.A. 

PRODUCTIVE POULTRY HUSBANDRY 1919 

By harry R. lewis, B.S. 

PRODUCTIVE HORSE HUSBANDRY 1920 

By carl W. gay, D.V.M., B.S.A. 

PRODUCTIVE ORCHARDING 1917 

By FRED C. SEARS, M.S. 

PRODUCTIVE VEGETABLE GROWING 1918 

By JOHN W. LLOYD, M.S.A. 

PRODUCTIVE FEEDING of FARM ANIMALS 192 1 

By F. W. WOLL, Ph.D. 

COMMON DISEASES OF FARM ANIMALS 1919 

By R. a. CRAIG, D.V.M. 

PRODUCTIVE FARM CROPS 1918 

By E. G. MONTGOMERY, M.A. 

PRODUCTIVE BEE KEEPING 1918 

By frank C. PELLETT 

PRODUCTIVE DAIRYING 1919 

By R. M. WASHBURN, M.S.A. 

INJURIOUS INSECTS AND USEFUL BIRDS 1918 

By F. L. WASHBURN, M.A. 

PRODUCTIVE SHEEP HUSBANDRY 1918 

By WALTER C. COFFEY, M.S. 

PRODUCTIVE SMALL FRUIT CULTURE 1920 

By FRED C. SEARS, M.S. 

PRODUCTIVE SOILS 1920 

By WILBERT W. WEIR, M.S. 
LIPPINCOTT'S COLLEGE TEXTS 

SOIL PHYSICS AND A4ANAGEMENT 1919 
By J. G. MOSIER, B.S., A. F. GUSTAFSON, M.S. 

FARM LIFE TEXT SERIES 

APPLIED ECONOMIC BOTANY 1919 

By MELVILLE T. COOK, Ph.D. 

PRODUCTIVE PLANT HUSBANDRY 1918 
By KARY C. DAVIS 
HORTICULTURE FOR HIGH SCHOOLS 1919 

By KARY C. DAVIS 

PRODUCTIVE SOILS Abridged Edition 1920 
By WILBERT W. WEIR, M.S. 

LABORATORY MANUALS AND NOTEBOOKS 

ON THE FOI.I,OVVIN<; SUBJECTS 

SOILS, Bv T.F.EASTMAN and K.C.DAVIS 191 S POULTRY, By H. R. 
LEWIS 1018 DAIRYING, By E.L. ANTHONY 1917 FEEDING, By 
F. W. WOLL 1917 FARM CROPS, By F. W. LATHROP 1920 




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HOW TO TEACH 
AGRICULTURE 

A BOOK OF METHODS IN THIS SUBJECT 



BY 
ASHLEY V. STORM, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR AND CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCA- 
TION AND DIRECTOR OF SHORT COURSES, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

KARY C. DAVIS, Ph.D. 

KNAPP SCHOOL OF COUNTRY LIFE. GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR 
TEACHERS; AUTHOR OF PRODUCTIVE FARMING, HORTICULTURE, ETC. 



22S ILLUSTRATIONS 



" If vain our toil. 
We ought to blame the culture, not the soil." 

Pope — Essay on Man 




PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



S8^ 



COPYRIGHT, I92I, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



Eleclroiyped and Printed by J. B. Lippincolt Company 
At the Washington Square Press, Philadelphia, U ■ S- A. 



APR 18 1921 
©C!,A611677 



<^A XS I 



PREFACE 

The Introduction gives the reasons of the authors for preparing 
this book. 

It is hoped that the book will be of real help to all those who are 
actually teaching as well as to those planning to do so and to those 
responsible for the supervision or administration of the teaching of 
agriculture. From beginning to end, it is planned as a teachers' 
book. It does not contain any treatment of agricultural subject 
matter or the facts of pure agriculture. It is intended for use in 
teacher training courses in colleges and normal schools, and any 
high schools offering such courses. It is also intended for every 
teacher who wishes to teach agriculture. Teachers ' reading circles 
will find the book suited to their needs, if they wish to study the 
teaching of this subject. 

The book is free from long lists of subjects quoted from the 
tables of contents of books of agriculture. Neither does it contain 
such lists taken from the outlines so freely published by many 
state boards and departments of education. For such tables and 
lists, the user of this book is referred to the numerous texts on 
the subject matter of agriculture and the various state reports 
and official bulletins. 

Acknowledgments. — The illustrations have been furnished 
largely by teachers of vocational agriculture in the various states. 
Under the picture, usually, credit is given in each case, except 
those supplied by the authors. 

To our own students, who have actively cooperated in sup- 
plying suggestions, materials, and the necessary inspiration for this 
book, we are extremely grateful. To Mrs. Fanny Waugh Davis 
and Mrs. EUzabeth Hayler Storm the authors join in expressing 
appreciation for valuable assistance in preparing the manuscript 
and reading proofs. 

Several experts in special lines have read, criticized, and other- 
wise materially aided us in preparing certain chapters. Credit is 
particularly due to John V. Ankeney, of the University of Minne- 
sota, for aiding with the chapter on Charts, Slides, and Films; 
to Andrew Boss, of the University of Minnesota, for examining 
the manuscript of the chapter on How to Teach Farm Manage- 



vi PREFACE 

ment; to Prof. C. H. Lane, chief, Agricultural Education Service 
of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, for examining 
and criticizing the proofs. 

Those who use the book are urged to write to one of the authors 
and give criticisms and suggestions for the further improvement 
of it. 

A. V, Storm 
Kary C. Davis 
January, 1921. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

I. Introduction 1 

II. How TO Organize for Teaching Agriculture 7 

III. How TO Manage the Teaching of Agriculture 26 

IV. Methods in the Teaching of Agriculture 36 

V. How to Teach Agronomy 74 

VI. How to Teach Animal Husbandry 109 

VII. How TO Teach Dairying 134 

VIII. How TO Teach Poultry Husbandry 150 

IX. How to Teach Horticulture 169 

X. How to Teach Farm Mechanics, Engineering and Shop 

Work 205 

XI. How TO Teach Farm Management 228 

XII. How to Teach the Management of Soils and Fertilizers. 248 

XIII. How TO Conduct Home Protects 270 

XIV. How TO Conduct a Land Laboratory 301 

XV. How TO Equip for Teaching Agriculture 317 

XVI. How to Teach Through Charts, Slides and Films 332 

XVII. How to Organize an Agricultural Library 364 

XVIII. How TO Conduct Community Work 376 

Appendix 415 

Index 421 



HOW TO TEACH 
AG R ICULTURE 

CHAPTER 1 
INTRODUCTION 

The present forward movement in improving the methods of 
teaching agriculture has doubtless impressed itself upon the minds 
of the older teachers more than upon those who have recently 
entered this field of teaching. Many changes have been made in 
the methods of teaching agriculture in recent years, but the most 
rapid introduction of the new changes has been made since the 
passage of the Smith-Hughes Act, which took effect July 1, 1917. 
The most noted change made in the methods of teaching which 
took place about this time was the use of home project work. (See 
Chapter XIII.) A few states had, prior to this, been conducting 
the agricultural high school work on the home project basis. A 
number of isolated schools in other states had long been trying this 
method. It remained, however, for the passage of the Smith-Hughes 
Act of Congress to cause the widespread introduction of the home 
project method of teaching agriculture. 

The Smith-Hughes Act. — This law makes provision for Federal 
aid of public schools teaching vocational agriculture to students 
above fourteen years of age. State Boards were to be designated 
by each state for governing schools availing themselves of the 
benefits of this Act. In most states these boards have issued printed 
courses of study. These pamphlets, which may be secured by all 
teachers of agriculture, usually contain in detail the conditions for 
the establishment of vocational departments or schools and the 
advantages of so doing. 

The State Boards appoint directors of vocational education and 
supervisors of the training in vocational agriculture. They desig- 
nate what institutions shall train teachers for the different lines of 
vocational education. Printed forms are issued under the authority 
of the State Boards and may be obtained by teachers desiring them. 
These forms include all or nearly all that are needed for complying 
with the plans for organization and administration laid down by the 
State Board and by the Federal Board for Vocational Education. 

1 



2 INTRODUCTION 

Need for Books on Methods of Teaching. — The authors of 
the present volume believe that there is a growing need for more 
literature on the subjtH^t of methods of teaching agriculture. The 
number of schools that have introduced vocational agriculture 
since the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act have, in most states, 
been limited to the number of teachers sufficiently qualified to 
instruct in the subject. Departments for the training of agricul- 
ture teachers have been established in all the states. Usually 
these have been in state colleges of agriculture. These training 
departments found it impossible at first to supply enough teachers 
for the schools desiring to introduce vocational agriculture. 

There have been many books giving methods of teaching nearly 
all other school subjects, but few that have really given very defi- 
nite suggestions on the subjects in agriculture. If there be justi- 
fication for so many books on methods of teaching geography, 
mathematics, language and other school and college subjects, there 
certainly is some justification for issuing at least a few books 
which deal with real methods in teaching agriculture. 

Little Attention to Methods in the Past. — All who have 
made a study of the past and present methods of teaching 
agriculture readily realize that too little attention has been 
given to the specific methods of teaching the different branches 
of the subject. It was early claimed by many that the need was 
not for instructors who knew how to teach, but for instructors who 
knew subject matter only. A knowledge of sul;)ject matter has been 
allowed to take -the place of methods of presenting the subject 
to students. 

Breadth of the Field of the Agriculture Teacher. — The 
teacher of agriculture is an organizer, an administrator, a 
manager, a teacher, and a community leader. It is the pur- 
pose of this book to be to him "guide, counsellor, and friend" as 
he endeavors to perform his duties in these several capacities. 
It is an attempt to put into his hands, in one volume, such guiding 
principles and such specific instructions for his actual tasks as will 
not only lay a solid foundation for correct ideals but also enable him 
to perform his daily work with success. 

Meeting His Needs. — Sound ideals of the aims of educa- 
tion, a cleai- understanding of how society organizes and admin- 
isters education and an appreciation of the place of agi'iculture in 
each is necessary if he is to perform wisely his part in the incor- 
poration of his chosen subject, agriculture, into our system of 



MEETING HIS NEEDS 3 

universal education, particularly the public schools. Chapter II en- 
deavors to assist in attaining these ideals and this understanding. 
While in conducting the daily work of the school or the class it 
is impossible wholly to separate managing from teaching, since the 
two frequently occur simultaneously, it has seemed best, in order to 
concentrate the attention properly upon each, to treat them in 
different chapters. Unless a school or class is well managed and 
governed, good teaching cannot be done. Good managing and con- 
trolling are not wholly matters of native abihty, even though natural 
gifts may make them easier for some teachers than for others, but 
are largely the result of careful study and planning. To furnish the 
opportunity for this study and to aid in making and executing 
proper plans, Chapter III has been devoted to management in 
general, the management of the class, and govermnent. 

When an attempt is made to condense a truth into an epigram it 
usually becomes a half truth. "Teachers, like poets, are born and 
not made, " to express the whole truth should be, Teachers are both 
born and made. To be born with capabilities which make easy the 
attainment of skill in teaching is a blessing vouchsafed to persons 
in varying degrees ; to develop to the greatest possible extent all of 
one's aptitudes for teaching is an opportunity open to all. To make 
better teachers, ho far as that can be done through the acquisition 
of better methods, is the purpose of Chapter IV. 

The teacher ambitious to use the best methods has three dis- 
tinct handicaps. First, in doing anytliing, because of the strength 
of the tendency to imitate, we do as we have seen done and not as 
we have read or heard that we should do. "As the old cock crows, 
the young cock learns." The tendency of young teachers is to 
teach as they were taught and not as they have been told to teach. 

The second is that teachers of agriculture, particularly those in 
charge of special departments of agriculture in secondary and ele- 
mentary schools, were taught their agriculture in colleges and many 
of the methods of teaching used therein are ill adapted to use in 
the public schools. The combination of these two conditions places 
the teacher under very heavy handicaps. 

The third relates to the organization of subject matter he is to 
teach. In most colleges of agriculture the subject matter is taught 
in highly differentiated units, in great scientific detail, and fre- 
quently, with a great degree of isolation from related units. It 
should not be so taught in public schools. This means that the 
teacher, if he is to teach in the public schools, is under the necessity 



4 IN'iliODUCTION 

of completely reorganizing his subject matter, abandoning the organ- 
ization through which he received his knowledge of agriculture, 
and making an organization of his own adapted to the needs of 
his pupils. 

Overcoming Handicaps. — The teacher of agriculture who hopes 
to render the largest service to his pupils must overcome these 
hancUcaps. There are four definite means by which he can accom- 
plish this. He can watch good teachers teach; counsel with those 
who are judges of good teaching methods; read the best profes- 
sional literature upon the subject; and make a careful application 




Fig. 1. — \ lULitiuaul agiicullurc is ol'tcii cIiukch by men whu ucic lujuieil iii tlir \\ Cild War. 
These take rehabilitation work in the Junior College of Agriculture, Ontario, Cahfornia. 

(Chas. J. Booth.) 

to his own work of what he has learned and measure the results. 
As an essential preliminary to the successful use of these means he 
must first realize that he is under these handicaps. It is one of 
the purposes of this book to assist the teacher in overcoming 
such handicaps as he may possess. 

In overcoming the first he must test all methods by means of 
which he learned, by applying the standards of pedagogical sound- 
ness, discarding such as are unsound in their pedagogy or not 
adapted to the conditions under which he is teaching. He should 
not assume that a method is sovmd simply because it was used 
with classes in which he was a student. A method should have 
some more substantial reason for its use than mere custom. As a 



USE OF THE BOOK - 5 

scientific agriculturalist he believes in testing the rule of thumb 
by the principles of science before adopting a mode of procedure. 
As a teacher he should pursue the same scientific process with his 
methods of teaching. If he does he will endeavor to find a sound 
pedagogical basis for his methods of teaching and management 
and not be satisfied with a mere blind following of the practices 
in use when he was a student. He will doubtless use many of them 
but it will be because they are sound and not because they were 
used when he was taught. 

In overcoming the second, let the teacher adapt methods to 
his students. A clear discrimination between methods adapted to 
college students and those adapted to the particular class of stu- 
dents he may be teaching at the time will enable him to use proper 
methods. A careful and conscientious study of this text and the 
references contained therein, especially Chapters III to XI, inclu- 
sive, should be of much assistance in overcoming these handicaps. 

In reorganizing his subject matter he will find help in the treat- 
ment of the curriculum in Chapter II and in the topics relating to 
content in each of the Chapters V to XII, inclusive, which deal 
specifically with the teaching of the different divisions of the cur- 
riculum. To supplement the matter contained in these, other 
chapters have been devoted to the use of land in the teaching of 
agriculture, Chapter XIV, the making and use of charts and slides. 
Chapter XV, and the special agricultural library, Chapter XVI. 
which will be found helpful in both management and methods. 

Three other chapters, XIII on how to deal with home projects, 
XVII on how to conduct community work, and XVIII on how to 
conduct boys' and girls' club work, are intended to aid the teacher 
in his responsibilities as a community leader though the home 
projects constitute a part of his school work, and when the boys' 
and girls' club work becomes fully incorporated as a regular activity 
of the public schools, which it must do if it is to become thorough 
and permanent, it will be a school enterprise conducted partly at 
the school and partly at the home, as are the projects. 

Use of the Book. — This book is intended to constitute a unit 
which will give to the one who uses it a preparation fairly well 
distributed over the different fields of activity of the teacher of 
agriculture. It may be studied in the order of the nmnbering of 
the chapters though that is not at all necessary. Each chapter 
is so sufficiently independent that any order may be followed which 
seems best adapted to the local situation and any chapter, the sub- 



6 INTRODUCTION 

ject matter of which is not needed at that particular time, may be 
omitted without detracting from the vahie of the; otliers. 

Exercises follow each chapter. To make the thoughts clearer 
and to fix them more permanently, use should be made of these 
exercises. In doing so, the different exercises should be used in 
connection with the appropriate topics in the text and not left as 
something to be studied after the whole text of the chapter or of 
the entire book is finished. Not every exercise needs to be taken 
by every pupil nor eve^i by every class. The exercises should be 
adapted to the needs of the pupils and to local conditions. If these 
indicate that some exercises applying to a given topic are un- 
necessary, such should be omitted. If there is need for moi'e of a 
^iven kind, the teacher or the students should originate them. 

The references, especially those at the foot of the page, should 
be consulted when possible. In Chapter IV, citations to specific 
books made by number at the close of each paragraph make such 
consultation especially easy upon the subject of methods. 

For Whom Intended. — This book is intended for teachers in 
service who are teaching agriculture in any kind of institution, 
whether it be the one-room country school, the consolidated school, 
the town or city school, the high school, the normal school or any 
other institution in which agriculture is taught; for students in 
universities, colleges, normal schools, and other institutions who 
are preparing to teach agriculture; for city, county, and district 
superintendents, principals and supervisors and others who are 
responsible for the supervision of the teaching of agriculture in 
schools under their charge; for persons engaged in extension work, 
short courses, and other forms of non-ciu'ricularized agricultural 
tea(-hing and advising; and for those who are preparing prospective 
agi'icultural tc^achers for their futui'e work. 

Result of Experience. — This book is the result of many years 
of expei'ience of the authors in teaching in the jiul)lic schools of 
both (;ountry and city, in schools and colleges of agriculture, in 
extension and community work, in farmers' institutes, in teachers' 
institutes, and especially in the college training of prospective 
teachers of agriculture. A careful study has been made of the 
needs of those for whom it is intended and a serious effort has been 
put forth to adapt it to their requirements. In publishing it, if 
they can contribute to making more effective the teaching of those 
who use it and to improving the education in agriculture which the 
next generation shall obtain, the authors will feel compensated. 



CHAPTER II 
HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

THE CURRICULUM 

The curriculum should provide for many forms of doing, on 
the theory that the highest forms of culture are as dependent 
upon doing as upon knowing. 

The curriculum must contain problems whose solutions are 
worth seeking if the problem method of teaching is to be utilized 
to its best advantage. Agriculture, as a subject of study, lends 
itself very readily to the problem sj^stem of organizing a curricu- 
lum. The real makes to most minds a more valuable as well as a 
more tangible and interesting problem for solution than does the 
fictional or the unreal. 

The non-vocational agriculture curriculum should contain those 
materials regarding science and agriculture which should constitute 
the common knowledge of every well-educated citizen of a nation 
like ours whose greatest and most fundamental industry is farming. 

The pre-vocational agriculture curriculum should provide for 
an acquaintance with the world of nature, with manual labor, and 
with the field of science; furnish the experience essential to the 
wise choice of an occupation ; and give the beginnings of a prepara- 
tion for farming should the pupil choose that vocation. 

The vocational agriculture course should provide such a knowl- 
edge of scientific and practical processes and such a skill in their 
application as will enable the student to obtain both profit and 
pleasure from the occupation of farming. 

Content. — Regardless of what methods you may use or whether 
or not you use a textbook or bulletins or other helps, the agricul- 
ture curriculum of the rural school, the grades of the town school 
and the vocational agriculture of the high school should be based 
upon the actual agricultural operations of your locality (Figs. 2-5). 
No other plan will enable you to obtain the full and rich values 
and fulfil the important aims of the teaching of agriculture. Obtain 
courses of study and syllabi and outlines from all possible sources 
but reject in them everything that cannot be made to contribute 
to a practical and scientific knowledge of the agriculture of your 
own locality. Examine the laws of your state, the rules of your 

7 



Fig. 2. 



Cotton 

Com 

Soils 

Fertilizers 

Gardea 

For. Crops 

Chemistry 

Tobacco 

Cost. Ace. 

S. Potatoes 

Oats 

Wheat 

I. Potatoes 

Rye 

Sorghum 

Weeds 



Cotton 
Corn 
Tobacco 
S. Potatoes 
Oats 
Hay 
Wheat 
I. Potatoes 

Rye 
Rico 




Fig. 4. 



Recitation 



Sup. Study 
Laboratory 
Field AVork 
Demonstration 



Fig. 2. — Relative amount of class time devoted to the various field crops by vocational 
schools in South Carolina. 
Fig. 3. — Relative values of field crops in South Carolina. 
Fig. 4. — How the time of vocational students is divided in the South Carolina agricul- 
tural schools. (South CaroUna State Supervisor's Report). 




THE CURRICULI M 




nPFi 



sas^lmm^\ n 



Ecmzi 

FRCCBORN I HOWL K 



Fig. 5. — Graphs showing the amount of time devoted to each class of stock, by the high 

schools of one state, as compared with the value of the stock in the county. Upper bar is 

the time. Lower bar is the valuation. (Study by Sherman Dickinson.) 



10 HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

state department of education, your state and county board of 
education and local board so far as they apply to the curriculum 
and particularly to the agricultural curriculum. If any of these 
or other authorities have arranged courses of study or outlines in 
agriculture, obtain them. Obtain curricula and exercises from the 
United States Bureau of Education, U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture, and U. S. Federal Board for Vocational Education, all of 
Washington, D. C, and from your state college of agriculture and 
the college or department of education of your State University. 
In many of the states the normal schools have rendered valuable 
service by preparing curricula in agriculture suitable for the rural 
schools and for the elementary grades of the town schools. If such 
courses have been prepared by the normal schools of your state or 
those in your region it will be well to obtain them for assistance in 
organizing your curriculum. If these can be made to apply to 
your local agriculture, use them, rejecting such portions as do not. 
If no applicable and adequate curriculum is obtainable, develop 
one yourself with the approval of the proper achninistrative officers, 
utilizing such assistance from the sources mentioned above and from 
l)Ooks, pamphlets, and other references as are of value. Remember 
that only by basing your selection of curriculum material largely 
ujion its applicability to the type of local farming can the greatest 
values be obtained from teaching vocational agriculture. 

As a standard for guidance each teacher, whether in rural school, 
grade or town school, or high school, should have the curriculum 
prepared by the C-ommittee on Agriculture of the National Edu- 
cation Association Commission on Reorganization of Secondary 
Education, which is published by the U. S. Bureau of Education. 
The arrangement of this curriculum is briefly as follows: 

Agronomy, one year; animal husbandry, including dairying 
and poultry, one year; horticulture, soils, farm engineering, and 
farm management, one-half year each. This sequence and time 
allotment are for the schools in the regions of diversified farming 
and should be changed to be adapted to any special type of farming 
or modified to meet the needs of schools unable to spend that 
amount of time upon agriculture. In making such modifications, 
attention should be given to the type of local agriculture, the 
natural interests of pupils, the pedagogical sequence of the subjects, 
coi'relations with othei- portions of the curriculum and the relative 
administrative adaptability of the subjects to the conditions at 
the s{;hool, and, if necessary, to the teacher's preparation on the 



THREE- YEAR ROTATION 11 

different topics. Essential adjuncts to the curriculum are the home 
project and the extension work, which are also treated in the report 
of the committee. 

Special Organization in the Rural School. — In the rural school 
where pupils are few, classes many, recitation periods short, the 
teacher's knowledge of agriculture not that of an expert, and there- 
fore special preparation of each agricultural lesson almost a necessity 
and the teacher's time for preparing a lesson brief, the best plan of 
organization is to have only one class in agriculture in any one term. 
The members of this should be the pupils of the eighth grade, the 
seventh grade, the sixth grade and such other pupils as because of 
nationality or special interest should be allowed to pursue the study. 

Three-year Rotation for Rural Schools. — The curriculum should 
then be distributed over three years, one year of which is taught 
each school year. For example, suppose it were decided to include 
in one year of the curriculum the study of the crops of the field, 
garden, and orchard; in another year, the animals of the farm — 
horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, including the various animal 
products such as milk, butter, cheese and eggs; and in a third year 
the mechanical work on a farm, planning, arranging and beautify- 
ing the farm and farm home, simple farm records and accounts, 
good roads, community needs and improvements, and similar 
topics. During the school year 1920-1921, the pupils in grades 
6, 7, and 8 would study the agriculture of the crop year of the curric- 
ulum; during the school year 1921-1922, the pupils who were that 
year in grades 6, 7, and 8 would study the agriculture of the animal 
year of the curriculum; and during the school year 1922-1923, the 
pupils who were that year in grades 6, 7, and 8 would study the 
other year of the agriculture curricuhun. Then in the school year 
1923-1924, the crop year would be studied again, the other two 
years following in succession. Through this plan each pupil (when 
the plan is fully in operation) would obtain three years' instruction 
in agriculture, but the teacher would have only one class in agri- 
culture in any one year, and would prepare herself for only one- 
third of the curriculum during any one year. 

When such a plan is in operation in a county or a state, all the 
forces, including public interest, are concentrated upon the special 
work for that year, and the results are greatly improved thereby. 

The above distribution of topics within each of the three years 
is not essential. Some of the crops, some of the animals, and some 
of the mechanics, and farm and community improvement topics 



12 



HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR l^EACHING ACiRIGULTURE 



may bo put in each of the three years, and the phin l)e achniiiistered 
equally well. 

Special Organization in the Grades of the Town School. — Since 
pupils in the town schools, due to greater regularity of attendance, 
are,' on the average, younger in the same grade, it is better to con- 
fine the agriculture work here to the two upper grades, the curricu- 
lum being two years instead of three years in length. If classes 
are small the pupils of the two grades may be united and half of 
the curriculum taught to them each alternate year of school, thereby 
saving time and labor for the teacher. If classes are of normal 
size or larger, both j^ears of the curriculum can be taught each 
school year, one to the seventh grade and one to the eighth. 




F'iG. G. — Appropriate styles of working garments worn by boys in agriculture and girls in 
domestic science. (G. S. Boggan, Ark.) 



In a school where there is but one seventh grade class and one 
eighth grade class, and only the boys take agriculture (the giiis 
taking honu^ economics or some other study at the sanu^ hour), 
combining the boys of ])oth grades into one class is better adminis- 
tration (Fig. ()). 

Special Organization in the High School. — Since high school 
agriculture is a subject I'equiring frequent laboratory work and 
since high school administration is organized on the basis of double 
periods for laboratory work, it is impossible for one teacher of 
agriculture to teach the entire four years of the agriculture 
curriculum during the same year and perform the other duties 
necessarily connectcni with agricultural teaching. If the number 
of pupils studying agricultuie is great enough to require four 
classes, an adcUtional teacher of agriculture should be employed. 



SPECIAL ORGANIZATION IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 



13 



If the agronomy course is to be taught every j^ear and the 
animal husbandry course every year, and the remaining courses 
each once in two years, by combining all the agricultural 
students of the highest two years into one class, one teacher 
can conduct the classes if he does not teach other classes in the 
grades or special groups such as the teachers' training classes in 
the high school. 

If the number of pupils in the high school agriculture classes 
is small enough to permit it, the agronomy course can be taught 
to the combined freshman and sophomore classes one year and the 
animal husbanchy course taught the next year to the combined 



'»,^^N, ^ffT 




1 . ;*/i 




I'IG. 



-^ iiung women as well as young men may pursue projects in apple growing. Here 
they are having their lirst practice in a neighbor's orchard. 



freshman and sophomore classes of that year. In like manner the 
juniors and seniors may be combined into one class in agriculture 
each year, one j^ear studying soils and horticulture and the next 
farm mechanics and farm management. With this arrangement 
the teacher of agriculture will be able to teach some agriculture 
in the grades below the high school and also one special class, if 
the number of such recitations be not too great, and still have 
some time for community work. 

All of the above arrangements provide for the high school 
pupil obtaining four years of agriculture work in the high school 
without so overloading the teacher as to prevent his attending to 
his other essential duties as an agriculture specialist. 



14 HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

Supervising Agriculture in Nearby Schools. — If, as in Minne- 
sota luuler the statute for associated schools, the special teacher 
is expected to conduct work in the nearby one-teacher rural schools, 
the organization of his work in the central school must provide 
time for this to be done without encroaching upon his other class 
work or his community duties. 

Where there are several such rural schools associated with the 
same central town school, this becomes an important feature of 
his work. In such a system probably the best procedure is for the 
special teacher of agriculture to lay out the ciu'riculum, assemble 
the rural teachers at a central point and prepare them for teaching 
it and then let them teach it to their pupils under his supervision. 
This supervision may be by regular (perhaps weekly) visits, and 
occasional reviews and quizzes. 




Fig. S. — The dairy and soils classes make use of the chcinical lalH)iatcii>-. (W. P. Dyer.) 



Emphasis on Farm Practices. — Vocational agriculture must 
have as one of its definite purposes the attainment of the best 
farm practices. Whether in high school, grades, or rural school, 
what to do and how best to do it accompanied by such a knowledge 
of scientific principles as makes possible rational procedure whether 
sets of conditions are identical or merely similar, should be a domi- 
nating ideal in the choice of the curriculum and in the methods and 
organization and administration of the agricultiniil work of the 
school. The content of the curriculum should be chosen with that 
end plainly in view and any organization or administrative diffi- 
culties that arise should be caused to give way, so far as possible, 
to the accomplishment of that aim (Fig. 7). 

Correlations of the Curriculum. — Nob only should the parts of 
the agricultural curriculum articulate properly with each other, 
but the agriculture should correlate effectively with the other 



CLASSIFICATION NOT DIFFICULT IN AGRICULTURE 15 

studies of the general curriculum. The thoughtful teacher will 
find many opportunities to correlate the agriculture work with 
language, arithmetic, and geography as well as the work of the 
season at the homes and on the farms. In the high school, special 
effort should be made to correlate the work of the sciences with 
the agriculture in order that the former may prepare for the latter 
and the latter give point and purpose to the former. Botany 
should prepare for crop studies; zoology for the animals and the 
animal pests of crops; physics and chemistry for farm engineering 
and soils; and general science for all. Such correlations offer some 
administrative difficulties but every effort should be made to 
establish them. The science teachers and the agriculture teacher 
should cooperate to the greatest possible extent to further this 
coordination (Fig. 8). 

THE CLASS 

Assigning the Pupil to His Group. — The one general basis of 
determining to what class or group an individual pupil shall be 
assigned is the relative values to that pupil at that time of the work 
of the different portions of the curriculum. This will depend upon 
two main conditions: his ability to comprehend the subject matter 
and its serviceability if comprehended. In the lower grades where 
a knowledge of the content of one grade is necessary to do the 
work of the next grade, passing successively through the grades 
in regular order will usually be required. In the upper grades 
(seventh to twelfth approximately) such rig'idity is not necessary 
and wisely guarded choices may be allowed, hmited only by the 
two conditions just named. 

His ability to comprehend will depend upon his age, native 
ability, home surroundings and health. The value of the curricu- 
lum content to him (above the lower grades) will depend upon the 
plans for his future schooling and life work and those general aims 
of advanced education mentioned at the beginning of this chapter 
(Fig. 9). 

Classification Not Difficult in Agriculture. — The teacher of agri- 
culture will have little difficulty in classifying a pupil in that 
subject. His general classification will have been determined 
previously by the administrative regulations of the school. For 
agriculture but two questions will have to be answered: Is he 
capable of successfully comprehendmg the subject? Is it of 
sufficient value to him at this time? 



16 HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACIHING AGRICULTURE 

While it is desirable to have the members of an agriculture 
class of about the same age, capability and attainment, it is quite 
possible for a keen twelve-year-old boy of the sixth grade to do as 




Fig. 9. — Pupils of third and fourth grade may have practice in knotting and splicing of 
ropes. (Lewiston, Minn., Schools.) 




Fig. Ill 



riiKil students in hieti school need to have practice in corn scoring 
pee, Minn., High School.) 



(Shako- 



good work in the rural school agriculture class as a less keen sixteen- 
year-old boy of the eighth gi-ade. In the one-room rural school 
there should be one agriculture class, as explained under "curricu- 
lum " and this should contain the boys and girls of the seventh and 
eighth grades, or at least, such as desire to take it, and similar 



AGRICULTURE IN THE PROGRAM 



17 



pupils from the sixth grade who desire it and are capable of com- 
prehending it properl3\ In the high school when the subject is 
first introduced, any pupil who desires to take it in the class in 
which it is offered or in any class above should be admitted, subject 
only to the number limit of pupils of the class and to program con- 
flicts. Even when the curriculum is fully established, any student 
classified above a certain agricultural subject should be allowed to 
enter the class and in exceptional cases, for sufficient reasons, a 
pupil classified below might be allowed to enter also. In the high 
school the greatest freedom should be allowed in vocational studies 
limited by proper guidance. (Fig. 10). Pupils of different gen- 
eral classification may succeed equally well in such a vocational 
subject as agriculture. 




11. — Even the local livery stable is sdiiictinios \i.siti-;l lij- 
(J. A. Wisdom.) 



DAILY PROGRAM OR SCHEDULE OF RECITATIONS 

Necessity. — To direct and conserve the time and efforts of the 
teacher and the pupils, a definite, systematically arranged program 
of recitation is essential to the efficiency of every school. The 
program of each day need not necessarily be identical with that of 
every other day, nor the program be like that of another school, 
nor is it necessary that the program provided for a certain day be 
held absolutely immutable if sufficient cause arises to warrant a 
change. But a time and place should be provided for each exercise 
of every day. 

Agriculture in the Program. — In the crowded rural school many 

plans may be used to find time in the program for agriculture. 

If substituted for a part of the language lessons there will be no 

loss, for it will furnish the content for many of the most valuable 

2 



18 HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

lessons. Likewise in the reading the study and silent reading of 
agricultural literature specifically related to the work being done 
in agriculture will be of greater value than many formal reading 




v:M^\ JL 



Fig. 12. — The normal training class must be given practice work so they can make their 
teaching thorough. Digging potatoes. (Bemidji, Minn., Schools.) 




Fig 13. — Banquet prepared by short-course girls for short course class in agriculture. 

(L. A. Henke, Minn ) 

lessons because of being more purposeful. By alternating with 
geography or history and (since three classes are combined) by 
increasing the Umgth of the recitation beyond the average enough 
work can be done to cover a good curriculum. The vital relation- 



IN THE HIGH SCHOOL 



19 



ship of the subject matter to the Hfe of the community and the 
vitalizing effect of the other studies ought to make its inclusion in 
the program a real economy of time. 

Placing it in the program of the seventh and eighth grades of 
the town school is a much simpler task, as two or three recitations 
a week of agriculture can be easily substituted for some of the more 
formal and less valuable parts of the other studies there. If home 
economics is provided for the girls of these grades and either or 
both the agriculture and home economics taught by a special 
teacher, one or both sets of pupils can go to the rooms of the 
special subject to recite at the same period. 

In the high school the program is more difficult to arrange. 
To make a four-year curriculum available to the student; to have 
double laboratory periods available for each class every day 
(Fig. 11); to teach some agriculture in the seventh and eighth 
grades; to teach the normal teacher training class of prospective 
rural teachers (Fig. 12); and yet find time for conducting home 
projects, community activities, short courses (Fig. 13), a school 
plot of ground, and home gardens of pupils, and supervise work 
in nearby rural schools with one agricultural instructor requires a 
well-arranged program for the week. 

Let us see some of the possibilities. Suppose the freshman 
class is studying agronomy, the sophomore animal husbandly, the 
eighth grade two recitations per week and the normal class three 
per week; his arrangement could be as follows: 





Monday 


Tuesday 


Wednesday 


Thursday 


Friday 


First period < 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


husbandry 


husbandry 


hiisbandry 


husbandry 


husbandry 


Second period . . . < 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


Animal 


husbandry 


husbandry 


husbandry 


husbandry 


husbandry 


Third period 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Fourth period 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Agronomy 


Fifth period | 


Normal 
class 


Eighth 
grade 


Normal 
class 


Eighth 
grade 


Normal 
class 


Sixth period 












Seventh period . . . 












Eighth grade .... 













This would leave him most of the afternoon for projects, com- 
munity service, rural schools, gardens, school plot, and preparation. 

Any day when a high school class needed a double period for 
laboratory work it could be available by extending the work into 
the second of the two periods provided. 



20 



HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 



A more condensed program is possible under tlie following plan : 



Monday 



Tuesday i Wednesday 



Thursday 



Friday 



First period . . 

Second period . 
Third period . . 



Fourth period . . 

Fifth period . . . 
Sixth period . . 
Seventh period 



Animal 
husbandry 

Agronomy 
Normal 
class 



Animal Animal 
husbandry! husbandry 



Agronomy 
Eighth 
grade 



Agronomy 
Normal 
class 



Animal 
husbandry 

Agronomy 
Eighth 
grade 



Animal 
husbandry 

Agronomy 
Normal 
class 



This would give him afternoons entirely free from class-room 
work and would allow him to use the second period for laboratory 
work in animal husbandry (Fig. 11) or agronomy on any day but 
not for both on the same day. This is only possible in case the 
animal husbandry students have no other recitation the first and 
second periods and the agronomy students none the second and 
third periods. The possibilities of program arrangements under 
different conditions can be further shown by working out the exer- 
cises at the close of this chapter 

THE TEXTBOOK 

Scoring Textbooks. — -To properly evaluate the various texts 
in a subject and to reach a sound conclusion regarding their rela- 
tive values and their adaptability to a given set of conditions a 
score card is of great assistance. The following score card was 
originated by the faculty of the Division of Agricultural Education 
of the University of Minnesota and has been used for several years 
by the students taking courses in that department. Every student 
preparing to teach agriculture is required to judge by aid of this 
score card several books in each of the branches of agriculture, 
agronomy, animal husbandry, soils, horticulture, farm manage- 
ment and farm engineering; and also books for the grade agricul- 
ture and country schools and for the normal training class in which 
are prepared the country t(nichers. Each student thus begins his 
work as a teacher with a carefully devolopcnl judgment of the rela- 
tive merits of the various books from which he may be required 
to select those to be used in his classes. 

Choosing by the Aid of the Score Card. — The general plan of 
the score card is to assign to each desirable characteristic that a 
textbook ought to possess a certain numerical value, the total of 



EXPLANATION AND USE OF SCORE CARD 21 

which value equals 100. The values assigned to the separate 
characteristics on the score card are supposed to represent the 
relative importance of the different characteristics on the basis 
of their total being 100. For example; "adaptability" is of much 
more value than "binding." 

The general procedure in selecting a book b}^ aid of the score 
card is: 

First. — Obtain copies of such books as by information or cursory 
examination seem to be adapted to the purpose for which the 
chosen book is to be used. 

Second. — Familiarize yourself with the general plan of the 
score card and with the meaning and scope and value of each 
item of it. 

Third. — Record the score of the different books for each item. 

Fourth. — Add the values assigned to a book to obtain the total 
score for that book. 

Fifth. — Rank the books according to the total score of each, 
assigning first i-ank to the book whose score is nearest 100. 

Sixth. — Examine the books without the aid of the score card 
and see if your "general judgment" regarding their several ranks 
agrees with that obtained by the score card. 

Seventh. — Examine your score card and the books for errors 
in figures or judgment, correcting until score cai'd and general 
judgment agree. 

Explanation of the Score Card and its Use. — Content. — This signifies the 
subject matter which the book contains and is somewhat independent of its 
specific teaching qualities although a book lacking in the characteristics scored 
herein would be, of necessity, a poor book to use in teaching. 

Adaptability. — Ask such questions as: Is it too difficult or too easy for 
the class of pupils for whom a book is being chosen {e.g., high school seniors, 
jrmiors, sophomores, or freshmen, eighth grade, rural school, prospective rural 
teachers)? Is it adapted to the type of local agriculture? Does it cover the 
field desired? Does it follow properly preceding texts used by this class? 

Proportion. — Make careful comparisons of the quantity distribution of 
the various topics. Within the field desired is the content distributed in 
proper relative quantities over the various topics considered? Are some 
treated too fully (relatively) or too briefly or omitted? 

Laboratory Exercises. — Are there any? Do they properly clarify or reen- 
force the te.xt material? Are they adapted to the laboratory facilities that 
can be made available to this class? Are there questions on experience? Are 
there suggestions for home exercises, readings and observations? 

References. — Are there any? Do they refer to authorities for statements 
made? Are references suggested for further reading? Are they to specific 
pages or chapters or to titles only? Are they placed in the body of the text, 
at the close of the topic, at the foot of the page, at the end of the chapter or 
at the end of the book? 



22 



HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 



Score Card for Agriculture Textbooks 



(Modifii'd from the original developed by the Division f 

of Minnesota! 


f Agricultural Edu 


cation, U 


niversity 


Note 1. — A book must be scored 
on the basis of its fitness for 


o 
o 

o 


Titles and authors of books 
(One column for each book) 


and locality in which it is to 
be used. 
Note 2. — Use back of sheet for 
explanations and remarks. 






















Qualities or characteristics upon 
which book is to be scored. 





Content: 


(45) 





— 





















Adaptability 


18 




Proportion 


12 
5 




Laboratory Exercises 




References 


4 
3 




Index 




Accuracy 


3 




Pedagogical Character: 


(40) 




Sequence 


10 




Correlations 


10 

10 

5 




Clearness 




Vocabulary 




Illustrations 


5 




Mechanical Construction : 


(15) 




Type 


5 
3 




Cuts 




Headings and paragraphs 


3 

2 




Paper 




Binding 


1 




Size 


1 




Total score 


(100) 




Rank of each book 







EXPLANATION AND USE OF SCORE CARD 23 

Index. — Has it a general table of contents? Is it sufficiently full? Has 
it an alphabetically arranged analytic index? Is it complete? Well arranged? 

Accuracy. — Are its statements true? Are its figures correct, recent, and 
based upon the best authority? Does it give specific or only general state- 
ments? Are values given accurately or only approximately? Is its analytic 
alphabetic index accurate? 

Pedagogical Character. — A good text must contain not only good material 
as shown by the content score but it must have that material in proper form 
and arrangement for teaching. It is not enough to know that it contains 
valuable information of the kind needed by the pupils but is the material 
so arranged and expressed as to make learning economical and effective? 
Is it "teachable"? 

Sequence. — Are the chapters, topics and paragraphs arranged in the best 
teaching order? Do the earher prepare for the later? Do the later utilize 
effectively and economically the teachings of the earlier,? Is the general 
sequence that which you prefer to follow in your school? Does the sequence 
conform sufficiently to the seasonal activities of the local agriculture? To the 
time the pupils will be studying agriculture in the school? To seasonal oppor- 
tunities for home projects or other practical applications? To the best peda- 
gogical procediu-e? 

Correlations. — Are the different chapters, topics, and paragraphs made to 
reenforce each other effectively and economically? Are ci'oss references so 
used that in teaching the sequence could be different from that of the number- 
ing of the pages without destroying the value of the correlations? Are funda- 
mentals {e.g., Mendelism) which are needed in several places explained only 
once and then referred to whenever wanted? 

Clearness. — In general is the expression clear? Are explanations clean- 
cut and convincing? Are sentences definite and their meaning unmistak- 
able? Will pupils obtain from ithe text a correct and explicit understanding 
of the subject? 

Vocabulary. — Are the words properly chosen? Are the best terms of 
scientific and practical agriculture used and in their accepted significance? 
Are the words comprehensible by the class of pupils for whom the book is 
being chosen? 

Illustrations. — Are the verbal illustrations apt? Are they convincingly 
expressed? Are the pictorial and diagrammatic illustrations pedagogical, that 
is, do they teach? Do they illuminate the language of the text? If from photo- 
graphs, were they composed for the most instructive results? Do the essential 
points stand out? Do they show proper proportion? Are illustrations suffi- 
cient in number? Are they sufficiently explained or described? 

Mechanical Construction. — Did the printer and the binder so perform their 
work as to make the book adapted to the use of the class of pupils for whom a 
selection is being made? 

Type. — Is the type neither too large nor too small? Are the letters free 
from extra and unnecessary fines? Is a page of it restful or irritating to the 
eyes? Are the fines of print far enough apart? 

Ctits. — Are the cuts mechanicaUy well made with the kind of screen best 
adapted to the paper used? Are they clearly defined? Is the press work good? 
Are cuts large enough? Well placed on the page? Well placed in relation to 
the subject matter which they are intended to illustrate? 

Headings and Paragraphs. — Are they in proper type? Are they arranged 
to show the relationship of the topics? Do they guide the eye quickly to the 
material desired? Do they aid in a grasp of the content? 

Paper. — Is the paper sufficiently thin and tough? Is it sufficiently dark 
and sufficiently dull of finish to be comfortable for the eyes? Is it sufficiently 
firm and opaque to prevent any impression from the opposite page showing 
through? Does it permit a clear-cut impression of type and cuts? 



24 HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

Binding. — Is the binding strong enough? Is it sufficiently flexible? Are 
the materials, colors, and style adapted to the prospective use? Will it wear 
long enough? 

Si?.e. — For the pupils for whom intended is the book the right length, 
breadth, and thickness? Is it adapted to being carried and stored with other 
textbooks? Is it adapted to the desks r.scd? Could its size he improved by 
the use of different paper or margins without interfering with its content or 
pedagogical values? Would it be worth omitting some of the less important 
parts of the content to reduce the size? 

Tolal Score. — There are two systems of recording the score vahies, and 
finding the total score. In one the book is credited with the amount of tha 
desirable characteristic which it possesses and these amounts aie added to 
obtain the final score of the book. In the other the book is debited with the 
amount the scorer decides should be taken off, or "cut," because of its not 
po.ssessing a proper amount of that characteristic; these "cuts" are then 
totaled and their sum taken from 100, which gives the final score for that book. 
The crediting system is preferred by most persons. 

Rank. — After the final scores are found the books may be ranked, the one 
whose score is nearest 100 being ranked one. 

In General. — When scoring several books it is better to score all of them 
upon "adaptability," then all upon "proportion" and so on through the score 
card than it is to score each book through the entire score card separate^. 
By this plan all the books are scored upon one quality while the judgment of 
the scorer is concentrated upon that quality and upon all the books in respect 
to that quality. This is likely to result in a sounder score. 

If the book is so defective in some important particular that, regardless 
of its possessing other valuable features you would not want to use it at all, 
it should be marked low enough upon that point to cause its rejection. 

EXERCISES 

1. Discuss the adaptability to your school of the curriculum recommended 
by the N. E. A. Committee on Agriculture (U. S. Bu. Ed. Bulletin) and 
recommend improvements. 

2. Arrange the various main topics of agriculture in a "three-year rota- 
tion" as proposed in the text for a one-teacher rural school giving due emphasis 
to the type of local agriculture. 

3. Arrange the sciences of your high school curriculum and the principal 
topics of each science in the order in which you would like to have them pre- 
sented in order to furnish the pupils the best preparation for their agriculture. 

4. Enumerate a few ways in which the grade and rural agriculture can be 
made to correlate with the other subjects of the curriculum. 

5. Several farm girls want to join the class in agronomy; Avould you ap- 
prove their doing so? The aninnal husbandry class? The horticulture class? 
Give reasons for your decision. 

6. A senior wishes to take agronomy with the freshmen; would you ap- 
prove? Why? 

7. Examine the daily programs of recitation of several nn-al schools near 
you and see how they could be so arranged as to provide for a recitation in 
agriculture twicie a week; three times a week; five times a week. 

8. p]xamine the programs of the seventh and eighth grade classes in your 
town schools and see how they can be adapted to the following: 

(a) Combining the boys of the seventh and eighth grades in an agricul- 
ture class while the girls of these grades take sewing in the seventh grade room ; 
' {b) teaching the boys of grade eight agriculture in the high school agriculture 
rooms twice a week; (c) teaching the eighth grade boys agriculture three times 



REFERENCES 25 

a week in their room and the seventh grade boys agriculture twice a week in 
your agriculture rooms. 

9. If a junior high school program is available, see how it can be adjusted 
so students desiring it can obtain two years' work in agriculture and take as 
large as possible an amount and variety of other prevocational subjects. 

10. If a normal training class program is available, see how it can be 
arranged to permit the entire class to receive instruction from the agriculture 
teacher under each of the following conditions: (a) five lessons a week during 
9 weeks of the fall and 9 weeks of the spring; (b) three lessons a week during 
the first half of the year; (c) two lessons a week throughout the year; (d) com- 
bined with the regular agronomy class in the high school. 

11. How can the program be arranged to meet a, h, c, and d, condi- 
tions in exercise 10, if the agriculture is to be taught by the normal training 
teacher, herself? 

12. Make a week's pj'ogram for the special teacher of agriculture in a 
foiu' year high school under the following sets of conditions in a system of 
schools containing twelve grades in town and some associated riu-al schools: 

(ffl) P'reshmen, agronomy, daily; sophomores, anunal husbandry, and 
juniors and seniors, farm management, daily. 

(b) Freslimen and sophomores, agronomy; juniors and seniors, farm me- 
chanics; eighth grade; all classes daily. 

(c) Jreshmen, agronomy, daily; sophomores and juniors, animal hus- 
bandry, daily; seniors, farm management three days per week. 

(d) Three rural schools five days per week supervised by agriculture 
teacher one day per week, each. 

13. Make other programs for other conditions known to exist near you 
or that you hypothetically create. 

14. How does your program compare with those in this chapter? 

15. Each student score unaided and without conferring with other persons, 
two to four textbooks from which a selection is to be made for a class in your 
locality in (a) agronomy; (b) a class in animal husbandry; (c) in soils; (d) in 
horticulture; (e) in farm management; (/) in farm mechanics. 

16. In like manner, score five books adapted to rural classes in agriculture 
and five adapted to the normal training class. 

17. Students compare their scores and each defend his score, in class. 

18. Judge comparatively other books of the same classes, without scoring 
and justify orally or in writing the placings. 

19. Select from all books studied those you would prefer as class texts 
in the types of schools in which you are teaching or expect to teach. 

REFERENCES 

BoBBiTT, Franklin: "The Curriculum." 
Carney, Mabel: "Country Life and the Country School." 
CoLviN, Stephen Sheldon: "An. Introduction to High School Teaching." 
HoLLiSTER, Horace E. : "High School and Class Management." 
Hummell, W. G., and Bertha R. : "Materials and Methods in High 
School Agriculture." 

Inglis, Alexander: "Principles of Secondary Education." 

Lane, Chari,es PI. : "Correlating Agriculture with Public School Subjects." 

Monroe, Paul: "Principles of Secondary Education." 

Nolan, Aretas W. : "The Teaching of Agriculture." 

Strayer, George D., and Norsworthy, Naomi: "How to Teach." 

Twiss, George R.: "Science Teaching." 



CHAPTER III 

HOW TO MANAGE THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 

Agriculture Teacher as Manager. — ^While the superintendent, 
the principal, the parents and the pupils may participate to some 
degree in formulating or in executing the plans for management, 
the teacher is the most important factor in their success. The 
superintendent or principal may, with the counsel and advice of 
his teachers, determine the main features of the policy and formu- 
late the general plans for their maintenance, but upon the teacher 
rests the responsibility for developing the more detailed plans and 
for the efficient execution of both. In the degree to which the 
duties of the teacher of agriculture correspond with those of the 
other teachers, his responsibilities are identical with theirs. In so 
far as they differ from those of others he must develop plans of 
his own and be responsibile for their proper execution. Even in 
these, the fundamental principles governing his relationship to 
others in authority are not changed. 

If the teacher of agriculture is the teacher of a one-room coun- 
try school she is largely a law unto herself in management, subject 
only to the statutes, the rules of local, county, and state boards 
of education, and general plans made by the county or district 
superintendent, and the additional plans of any supervisors work- 
ing under his direction. When stated these subjections look 
formidable but in actual operation they usually occupy the field 
of administration and encroach little upon management. The 
rural teacher, however, will do well to consult fully and freely 
with her superintendent and supervisors, since they are usually 
persons of large experience and superior judgment. 

If the teacher of agriculture is in charge of a special department 
of work in a town or city system, there are a few outstanding fea- 
tures of his responsibilities that he should see clearly and always 
observe carefully in his practice. Among these are the following: 

That there can be but one executive head in a system of schools; 
that the superintendent is by custom and law that head; that no 
princii)al of a school, head of a department, or teacher is expected 
to divide this headship with him (duumvirates and triumvirates 
were long ago demonstrated to be failures in administration) ; that 
26 



AGRICULTURE TEACHER AS MANAGER 27 

the superintendent is the person chosen by the board to bring to 
their attention all matters relating to the schools upon which they 
should be informed and to execute within the schools all their 
decisions which they have a legal and moral right to make; that 
loyalty to the properly exercised authority of the superintendent 
is expected of every teacher (subject to the dictates of his conscience 
regarding points involving moral principles) ; that teachers should 
express their opinions freely, fully, and forcefully upon any pro- 
posed procedure, but a course of action honestly decided upon 
by the proper authority should be supported wholeheartedly and 
faithfully; that upon invitation of the superintendent the teacher 
should be ready at any time to present to the board any technical 
matters, but at no time should the teacher attempt to take to the 
board or members thereof by ''short circuit" any official business 
nor encourage members of the board to bring official business to 
the teacher without first presenting it to the superintendent and 
obtaining his approval of the procedure. 

Nothing should prevent the freest conference and discussion 
between the teachers and members of the board upon educational 
matters of common Interest, but contemplated official action 
should pass through the office of the superintendent. 

If there be a principal of the high school the teacher of agri- 
culture should find out early what administrative or managei'ial 
responsibilities have been reposed in him and should thereafter 
conform to the plans of the school in enabling the principal to bear 
these responsibilities. These may include the making of the 
daily program of recitation and study, the general behavior of 
pupils, the movement of classes, the compiling of records and 
reports, and in the larger schools may extend to the making of 
curricula, the recommending of textbooks and the classifying and 
promoting of pupils. 

For whatever features of management the principal has been 
made responsible the teacher should exercise full and hearty loyalty 
in aiding him to execute. "Render unto Caesar the things that 
are Caesar's." No factor contributes more to the success of a 
teacher's class management than the general management of a 
wise, strong, high school principal. The more loyally a teacher 
supports such general management the more he lightens his own 
burdens. Make your best knowledge and counsel available to 
him; execute his plans regarding the program of recitations, passing 
of classes, making of records and reports, attendance and general 



28 HOW TO MANAGE THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 

deportment of pupils, with tact and sincerity and promptness and 
it shall be bread cast upon the waters. 

Relationship to Co-workers. — The teacher of agriculture should 
maintain the most cordial relations with his co-workers. Helpful 
correlations of work can be established especially with the teachers 
of science, English, geography, manual training and home eco- 
nomics by means of which the work in all these departments as 
well as in his own may be greatly improved. His vital contact 
with the community, his apparent freedom of action and frequently 
his greater compensation should not be allowed to cause their 
feelings to degenerate to jealousy but should be utilized to arouse 
in them the spirit of emulation. He may be able to aid them in 
discovering means of more vital contact of their subjects with 
community hfe from wliich many of the other conditions would 
follow as results. 

Professional Attitude. — To dispel a widespread belief, less 
warranted by the facts now than several years ago, regarding his 
lack of professional preparation, he should pay strict attention 
to his professional duties and responsibilities regardless of the 
heavy demands made upon his time b}" the practical character of 
his work. He should not let his fellow teachers exceed him in 
zeal for professional improvement nor in attendance upon gather- 
ings for this purpose nor in participation in the proceedings. 

Relationship to State Supervisor of Agriculture. — If there be a 
state supervisor of agricultui'c work the teacher of agiiculture 
should promptly familiarize himself with the supervisor's plans, 
solicit his assistance and keep him informed in a modest, Imsiness- 
like way of what is being done. He should attend all conferences 
called by the supervisor when possible and participate generously 
in the improvement of the work in the state. He should respond 
promptly, fully, and accurately to all i-oquests made l\y the super- 
visoi' for information. 

Relationship to Community. — To the peoj^le of the community 
the teacher of agriculture bears a peculiar relation in that besides 
being a teacher in their schools he is considered to be an expert 
advisor regarding their business. Farmers, business, professional, 
and non-pi-ofessional men and women of the comnuniity call upon 
him for advice. This gives him a wonderful oppoi'tunity to co- 
ordinate home and shop and store and office and farm and school, 
which are more fully treated in a later chapter. Here it may 
be said that he should take advantage of this opportunity to the 



TEACHER OF AGRICULTURE UNDER SUPERVISION 



29 



fullest extent possible without distracting from the effectiveness 
of his work in the school, where his first responsibility lies. He 
should pay special attention to the former students of the school 
agriculture classes, for through them he ought to develop centers of 
leadership for rural improvement. 

Responsibility to Local Press. — Few teachers of agriculture 
appreciate their responsibility to the press and through it to the 
people. The press, especially the "country press," is recently 
becoming aroused to its responsibility regarding agriculture and 
country life. A wide-awake "country" editor would prefer an 
item al)out farmer Jones having erected a silo or Smith having 
produced a record-breaking dairy cow or Brown having utilized 




Fig. 14. — Those high school girls are taking a course in agriculture to prepare themselves 
for more successful work as teachers in the rural schools. (A. Z. Arehart. ) 



successfully a certain treatment for potato scab or the report of 
the annual picnic of the Lake Pokegema Farmers' Club, or the 
results of the seed-corn tests made by the high school class in agri- 
culture, a warning to farmers about the quality of their seed for 
the coming year than the news that Mrs. De Sanford spent the 
week-end with her sister in Podunk or that Mrs. Oriole had bought 
a new piano from Stringem and Pound. But the editor is not 
ubiquitous. The teacher of agriculture and his pupils can render 
the community great service by furnishing through the local paper 
matter of greatest value to them at that time. (Chapter XVIII). 
Teacher of Agriculture under Supervision. — The teacher of 
agriculture may play a double role in the field of supervision. The 
superintendent or principal who is responsible for the success of 
the management and teaching in his schools ought to have personal 



30 HOW TO MANAGE THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 

knowledge of the success of the teacher of agriculture in these 
regards. To obtain this he should make personal visits to observe 
the work. The teacher of agriculture should welcome these visits 
and also the criticisms and suggestions arising from them. The 
superintendent may know little about the science of agriculture 
or the art of farming but may be an expert in school manage- 
ment and methods of teaching. His opinions and suggestions 
should be eagerly and cordially sought, and carefully and 
thoughtfully considered. 

If they relate to activities for the success of which the super- 
intendent or principal is chiefly responsible, his wishes ought to be 
regarded unless something in the teacher's work makes it prac- 
tically impossible. If they relate to features for which the teacher 
is responsible they ought to be given an honest trial if there is a 
greater chance of succeeding than of failing, when applied to the 
particular conditions with which the teacher has to deal. When 
the supervising officer is present the class work should move for- 
ward in a perfectly usual and normal manner. The teacher should 
assume that the supervising officer has come in his official capacity 
to see the natural working of the school and not as a parlor visitor 
to be entertained. A good supervisor will do nothing in the pres- 
ence of pupils that even hints unfavorable criticism. In a later 
conference between supervisor and teacher, full, frank discussion 
should bring out features commendable as well as those having a 
possibility of improvement. "Bouquets" as well as "brick bats" 
should be made evident by supervisors. The teacher should not 
resent criticism nor be unduly depressed by it. If it is just, let him 
appropriate it to the improvement of himself and his work. If 
it is unjust, endeavor calmly but frankly to demonstrate it to 
the critic. 

The Teacher of Agriculture as Supervisor. — ^If the teacher of 
agriculture has charge of this subject in nearby rural schools, he 
then becomes the supervisor instead of the supervised. This 
doul)le relation ought to keep him sane and sweet in both. Not 
only is the opportunity but also the motive present for exemplify- 
ing the golden rlile. He should lay out the course of work, aid in 
obtaining materials, and give the teacher such help in the subject 
matter as she may need for the work she is to do. If he is to teach 
all of the lessons himself, she will need instruction on how to aid 
the children from lesson to lesson and how to have them prepare 
for the arrival of the teacher of agriculture. If she is to teach the 



CLASS MANAGEMENT 31 

class each day of the week excepting the one on which the special 
teacher comes, she will need the topics to be studied during the 
week, the plan of class work and the actual agricultural knowledge 
(Fig. 14). 

The day the agriculture teacher takes the class he can review 
the work, clear up questionable points, make the general assign- 
ments for the coming week and arouse the minds of the pupils to 
prepare for it. Unless the rural teacher is specially prepared in 
agriculture she will need all the help and encouragement and honest 
praise the teacher of agriculture can give, and he should not assume 
that she knows he is thinking these comforting things, but should 
tell her so and he need not be afraid to express approval of the work 
(when it can be truthfully commended) in the presence of the 
pupils. So far as we know, the corpse is not conscious of bouquets 
on the casket. Better present them when their fragrance is sweet 
to the soul. 

Class Management Must Make Good Teaching Possible. — 
Schools exist primarily that boys and girls may be taught. The 
center of teaching is the class session. The acme of educational 
activity is the teaching of the class. Management, besides being a 
process of training pupils. in social responsibilities and behavior, 
is a means of enabling teaching to attain its highest efficiency. 
As such it must create and maintain conditions most favorable to 
the teaching and learning processes. Since attention is -the fore- 
most essential to these processes management should affirmatively 
do those things that promote pupil attention and negatively pre- 
vent those things that distract it. The teacher should ask ques- 
tions in a clear, well-modulated voice only loud enough to be 
distinctly heard when a proper degree of quiet is maintained ; ques- 
tions should be asked of the entire class to keep every pupil con- 
stantly participating in the progress of the thought of the lesson; 
generally the asking of the question should precede the designation 
of the pupil who is to reply; questions should be distributed with 
good judgment among the members of the class; if at all possible, 
every pupil should be given an opportunity to express himself 
during each recitation; the train of thought should be loaded with 
things worth attending to and should move rapidly enough to 
make attention necessary; the teacher should stand at a point 
where his presence helps to concentrate attention; teacher and 
pupils should habituate the physical attitude of respectful atten- 
tion to the one reciting; the pupil who recites should sta.nd (usually) 



32 HOW TO MANAGE THE TEACHING OF AGRICI^TlTRE 

and if so, in an erect, well-poised manner so the other members of 
the class may easily concentrate their thoughts upon his recitation. 
These and many other features of good management contribute 
affirmatively toward superior attention. 

Management may also assist in creating conditions favorable 
to the development of attention by preventing certain things. 
The senses of the pupils should not be assailed by persons passing 
open class-room doors, open windows, persons talking in the halls 
or the 3^ard, the sputtering of a radiator, the tapping of a pencil, 
the falling of books, the whispering or speaking of one member of 
the class to another, persons entering the room or knocking on 
the door; and marking every recitation of each pupil in the class; 
the lighting and heating of the room should not be abnormal; con- 
ditions that make the orderly pupil anxious to set things aright, 
such as a flapping window shade, a piece of apparatus about to 
fall, the sunlight shining in the eyes of another pupil, the wind 
blowing the leaves of an open book, should be unobtrusively 
adjusted, and preferably, before the class enters the room, if 
possible. Besides other disadvantages of such things they dis- 
tract attention of pupils and are evidences of poor management. 
Any pupil worth teaching will give his attention to something and 
the skilful manager will so plan as to enable him to give it to the 
right thing. 

Necessity of Good Order. — Good order is absolutely necessary. 
Pupils cannot obtain the maximum results in education without it. 
Lack of teaching ability is harmful. Lack of governing ability is 
disastrous. More teachers fail from this lack than from all others. 
It is the sine qua non for success in the school-room. 

The fuiulamental fact that the natural impulses and instincts 
of individual pupils so frequently run counter to the needs of the 
group or class makes government in the school-room a normal, 
perennial, continuous, ever-present pi-oblem. No teacher may 
pray to be delivered from it, no pupil may hope to escape it. Wise 
teachers and pupils will therefore cooperate in obtaining the maxi- 
mum of benefit and happiness out of it by developing good govern- 
ment, which is a blessing, instead of permitting bad government, 
which is a curse. Good govei-nment will in turn result in good 
order and good discipline;. 

The Teacher Responsible. — The teacher is not only responsible 
for good management, but he is also responsible for good govern- 
ment, good oixlei', and good discipline. 



THE TEACHER RESPONSIBLE 



33 



Other factors morally responsible for good school government, 
such as school officers, the public, patrons, and pupils, to the full 
extent of their powers oiight to maintain good government in the 
school, but the teacher must do so. 

Whether pupils cooperate fully in some form of pupil govern- 
ment or assume the most violent and malignant form of opposition 
to good order ancl good government; whether patrons render the 
warmest assistance or the coolest indifference and even frigid 




Fig. 1'). — A Wisconsin instructor of agriculture visiting a student's poultry project and 
examining the egg record. (W. C. Christenson and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

resistance; whether the higher administrative officers give firm and 
cordial support or fade away, "side step" or "stand from under" 
when their help is most needed and fully deserved ; still the teacher, 
by law, custom, and the opinions of the public and pupils, is ex- 
pected to establish and maintain good government, good order, 
and good discipline. 

The right of every child to obtain an education in the school 

must be protected and the teacher is charged with the duty of 

protecting that right. If he fails, all other factors are practically 

helpless and the child is defrauded of his birthright. In the per- 

3 



34 HOW TO MANAGE THE TEACHING OF AGRICULTURE 

formance of this duty all of the teacher's mental, moral, and if 
necessary, his physical powers, may be called upon to serve, limited 
only by the laws of the state, the rules of the schools and the 
dictates of humanity. While in schools of the present day these 
limits need seldom be even approached, much less reached, yet 
most teachers will find opportunity to utilize all the tact, skill, 
patience, optimism, self-control, and strength of mind and heart 
they possess. 

A Few Words to the Teacher of Agriculture. — There are several 
reasons why you should have little trouble in governing. Your 
subject is usually elective and you have not the perplexing problem 
of the uninterested pupil who is in the class because it is a required 
subject. Your subject has a content so concrete and naturally 
so attractive that the pupil's interest supplemented by even fairly 
good management and moderately skilful teaching ought to reduce 
disorder to the minimum. Your home project work makes so vital 
a contact with life interests that few pupils have time or inclination 
for mischief. Your visits to the homes enable you to come into 
contact with the parents on a constructive basis and thus assure 
their support and cooperation. You can also study the pupil in 
his out-of-school environment and be thereby the better enabled 
to work successfully with him in school (Fig. 15). The purposive- 
ness of the school work, your ability to render him valuable assist- 
ance in the thing he is anxious to do and the manlike and adult 
character of your joint enterprises all unite to impel him to sensible, 
helpful cooperation so valuable in promoting good government. 
If you make a proper use of your opportunities, governing your 
class ought to be the least of your troubles. 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. Name five things that the teacher of agriculture may want to have 
done that need board action, but which are to be presented to the board by 
the superintendent. Name two, in behalf of which the superintendent may 
want the agriculture teacher also to appear before the board. 

2. Name three subjects which the agriculture teacher and the superin- 
tendent should discuss fully and which on reaching a. decision the superin- 
tendent should place in the hands of the teacher for the execution of the 
details of the plan. 

3. Name five things which the agriculture teacher should do upon his 
own initiative without consulting the superintendent or principal. 

4. Give specific instances in which the agriculture teacher can furnish 
definite aid to the teacher of botany; the teacher of English; to the teacher of 
geography; the teacher of home economics; the teacher of chemistry. 

5. Give specific ways in which the teachers mentioned in Exercise 4 can 
help the teacher of agriculture. 



REFERENCES 35 

6. Write an account of an important agricultural event and take it to 
the local editor for criticism. Rewrite until it meets his approval. From 
what you have learned write other articles and offer them for publication. 
(Chapter XVIII.) 

7. Name five kinds of agricultural matter which you think the local 
paper would Uke to have. Obtain the criticism of the local editor upon your list. 

8. State five subjects from which you think it advisable to select if asked 
by a farmers' club in your locaUty to "give a talk." State five others for use 
before a town business men's club. 

9. Lay out a plan for your giving one lesson a week in a country school, 
the teacher of the school to conduct the lessons you arrange for her on the 
other four days. 

10. Name five conditions or acts that might prevail in a class in agricul- 
ture ; decide whether each is principally concerned with management, govern- 
ment, or the teaching process and in what ways it affects the other two. 

11. Name five regulations intended to produce good government and 
decide whether they contemplate primarily the creating of favorable conditions 
in which the group can work or the development of the individual pupil 
in behavior. 

12. Make a list of regulations that will tend to do both. 

13. Examine the school laws and decisions of your state and see how many 
you can find that relate to the behavior of the pupil at school. What are the 
provisions? 

14. What rules regarding pupil behavior have been enacted by the school 
board under which you are now working or last worked? 

15. What supplementary rules regarding pupil behavior has the prin- 
cipal made? 

16. What additional ones has the teacher made? 

REFERENCES 

Bagley, William Chandler: "Classroom Management." 

Bagley, William Chandler: "School Discipline." 

Chancellor, William Estabrook: "Cla.ss Teaching and Management." 

CoLviN, Stephen Sheldon: "An Introduction to High School Teaching." 

Perry, Arthur C, Jr.: "Disciphne as a School Problem." 

Perry, Arthur C, Jr.: "The Management of a City School." 

Stout, John E.: "The High School." 



CHAPTER IV 

METHODS OF TEACHING 

Teacher's Knowledge of Psychology and Agriculture As- 
sumed. — The necessity of knowing the three M's — Mind, Matter, 
Method, is as great for the teacher as is that of knowing the three 
R's for the pupil. No teacher can hope to reach his highest degree 
of efficiency unless he knows the mind of the pupil and how it 
functions in learning, the subject matter of the curriculum he is to 
teach, and the proper methods by means of Avhich the subject mat- 
ter is used to educate the pupil. 

This chapter is written on the assumption that the teacher of 
agriculture has a practical working knowledge of the psychology of 
education, particularly of the mental processes of learning. It is 
assumed that sensation, perception, conception, memory, judg- 
ment, reasoning, apperception, attention, interest, habit, imita- 
tion, emotion, thinking, -will, motivation, association, and similar 
terms relating to mental processes are already significant to him. 
Therefore, no special treatment will be accorded them. If the one 
who desires to teach is not familiar with them, he ought to study 
carefully a few of the best books upon the subject, some of which 
are fisted in the references at the close of this chapter and referred 
to by number at the close of this topic. It is also assumed that he 
has both a practical and a scientific knowledge of agriculture of 
the type prevailing in the region in which the teaching is to be done. 

(References 1 at close of chapter: 1, 12, 13, 18, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 
37, 45, 46, 47, 52.) 

Some General Considerations. — As schools are organized there 
are three more or less distinct steps in the teaching process : The 
assignment of the "lesson," the setting of the task for the pupils 
by the teacher; the preparation — study — of the lesson by the 
pupils (and by the teacher) ; and the consideration of the task by 
the teacher and the pupils together — a joint meeting — the recita- 
tion. In many countries, including our own, the recitation has 
been considered to l^e much more important than the other two 
and in the minds of many persons "methods of teaching" are 
interpreted to be methods of the recitation. Recently, however, 

1 Numbers at the end of each topic allude to refenmccs at close of chapter. 
36 



INDUCTION AND DEDUCTION 37 

much greater considei'ation has been given to the value of proper 
assignments and even more thought has been given to proper 
methods of stud}'. 

Induction and deduction are modes of thought. In the former, 
the mind from its famiharity with individual or specific ideas or 
notions, proceeds to a general notion or truth common to them all. 
In the latter, the mind accepting a general truth or notion proceeds 
to the application of it to specific or individual notions. In brief, 
it may be said that the inductive procedure is best adapted to 
teaching the young pupil, to laboratory work, and to scientific 
discovery. Its procedure is largely from the concrete and objective 
to the abstract and subjective. Its advantages are that it gives 
clearness of comprehension; interest in the learning process; con- 
fidence in the general truth, rules, definitions, principles obtained; 
and independence of future action in the pursuit of knov/ledge. 
Its disadvantages are that it consumes much time; may lead to 
erroneous conclusions unless well guided and exhaustive; and is 
needless and wasteful as a teaching process when pupils have 
already in their past experience sufficiently traversed its essential 
steps. For its successful use in school it requires broad and deep 
knowledge and superior skill on the part of the teacher and these 
are not always present. It is expensive not only of time, but 
of equipment. 

The deductive process is economical of time, especially with 
persons whose experiences have supplied the apperceptive founda- 
tion for a comprehension of the general truth; enables one to take 
advantage of the achievements of the ages and hence of books, 
libraries, and other storehouses of knowledge, and to start at the 
l^oint where the scientists, discoverers and scholars have stopped; 
and is the natural process in applying to the practical affairs of 
life the discoveries made by study. In schools it increases the 
efficiency of the poorly informed or poorly trained teacher by sup- 
plementing her teaching with textbooks which are principally 
deductive in character. It is economical in equipment since in 
most of the school studies application requires less expense for 
equipment than does discovery. 

Both induction and deduction are essential to every complete 
learning process. With certain types of pupils or subjects or lessons 
one may well predominate over the other, but there are few, if 
any, lessons in which each is not present in some degree even 
though the pupil or teacher may not be conscious of it. 



38 METHODS OF TEACHING 

In each of the methods mentioned later these two processes 
will be found to be present in varying; proportions (1, 6, 8, 12, 
13, 16, 23, 39, 44, 51). 

The Formal Steps. — The followers of Herbart in Germany and in 
the United States have developed a standard form of teaching proced- 
ure called in this country the "Five Formal Steps." These "steps" 
have gained general recognition and acceptance as amplified and util- 
ized by American teachers and writers. They are usually designated 
as, first, preparation; second, presentation; third, comparison (and 
abstraction); fourth, generalization; fifth, application. 

The first step sets before the pupil the problem and arouses his 
apperceiving masses related to it. It consists in arousing in the 
minds of the pupils their past experiences and their accumulation 
of information and ideas which will lead to an interest in further 
knowledge, to a comprehension (apperception) of the new truths 
and a concentration of effort toward the accomplishment of a 
definite known aim. In presentation, new facts, or experiences, 
or ideas, in sufficient quantity and of sufficient variety and compre- 
hensiveness are brought before the pupils to form a basis for the 
fourth step. Comparison and abstraction consist of detecting the 
characteristics of the different individual facts or ideas, and their 
likenesses and unlikenesses and hence the relations they bear 
to each other. Generalization discovers the common character- 
istics abstracted in the third step and states the finding in the 
form of a general truth or conclusion. Definitions, rules, and prin- 
ciples are types of the results of generalization. In the fifth step, 
application, the general truth evolved through the first four steps, 
is utilized for the interpretation of specific, individual cases.^ The 
first four of these steps are distinctly inductive and have the char- 
acteristics and advantages of that system of procedure. The fifth 
is as distinctively deductive with all that is implied thereby. A 
more complete explanation of this step will be made under the 
"Four Formal Steps" later in this topic. 

These five steps (including the four parts of the fifth step men- 
tioned later) are necessary to a complete learning unit and con- 
stitute the inductive-deductive process. 

The various "methods" mentioned later will be found to place 
a varying amount of emphasis upon these five formal steps accord- 

2 For more complete treatment see McMurry's "General Method"; 
Earhart's "Types of Teaching " ; Bagley's "Educative Process"; Colgrove's 
"The Teacher and the School"; McMurry's "Method of the Recitation." 



THE ASSIGNMENT 39 

ing to the purpose to be accomplished. It must not be understood 
that all five steps are taken in every lesson. A teaching unit ful- 
filling the five formal steps might cover the work of a week or might 
occupy half a recitation period. Neither should it be understood 
that in the learning process the five steps are distinct from each 
other. In preparation truths may be presented that are new to 
some pupils; in presentation some minds are constantly making 
abstractions and comparisons and even leaping forward to general- 
izations or even going farther and seeking applications. 

While much has been written upon the inductive development 
lesson and the five formal steps (of which the second, third and 
fourth are definitely inductive) , less has been done for the deduc- 
tive procedure. 

Bagley ^ divides the deductive development lesson into four 
steps: viz. (1) the data; (2) the principles; (3) the inference; (4) 
the verification. 

In suggesting its substitution for the mere "telling" of facts 
so common in education to-day he states that it (1) introduces 
organization; (2) gives meaning to principles previously mastered; 
(3) ''supplies a motive for searching out empirical evidence and 
therefore makes intelligible the use of textbooks and source ma- 
terials"; (4) utilizes the "puzzle" instinct; (5) reveals the need 
for future study; (6) amplifies the inductive processes (8, 10, 23, 
44, 51). 

The Assignment. — Under the system of organizing American 
educational institutions, it is assumed that the teacher and the 
pupils will be together for cooperative work at regular periods of a 
few minutes to an hour or two every day or once every few days ; 
that the teacher announces at every session certain work for the 
pupils to do before the next session; that the interim is used by the 
pupil in preparation for his part in the next joint meeting and that 
likewise the teacher in the same time makes his preparation for 
the same occasion. This interim task set for the pupil is the assign- 
ment. Its importance is sadly underrated by most teachers. The 
fulness, thoroughness, and systematic character of the study during 
the interim and the richness and vitality of the succeeding meeting 
of teacher and pupils are frequently most largely determined by the 
quality of the assigmiient. Loss of time in study and recitation is 
avoided by a goodi assignment, while a poor one may cause almost 
a total loss of both. Besides its far-reaching effect upon the char- 

^ The Educative Process, p. 305-315. 



40 METHODS OF TEACHING 

acter of the study and the recitation, a superior assignment makes 
a definite contribution to the good government of the school by 
keeping pupils cheerful, busy, and orderly. Its character may 
vary somewhat according to the anticipated procedure at the joint 
session of pupils and teacher, whether it is to be a lecture, a reci- 
tation, a seminar, a quiz, a drill, or an examination. 

However, there are certain characteristics that a good assign- 
ment should possess regardless of the kind of work that is to follow. 
The assignment should state the aim or purpose to be accomplished. 
It should set the problem clearly before the pupil and should arouse 
in him a keen desire to solve it. By skilful cjuestioning, it should 
establish vital contact in the mind between this problem and all 
possible related experiences of his own. To the extent to which 
this is done the assigmiient is the means of taking the first of the 
five steps. 

The assignment should be clear and full. The pupil should 
know exactly what he is to do. The use of the assigmnent is 
not to be limited to the textbook type of study and recitation. 
Anything the pupil is to do as preparation for the next class meeting 
is a part of the assignment. It may be to study a portion of a book, 
to interview certain persons, to examine certain animals or plants, 
to observe certain processes, to attain by pi-actice certain skill, 
to apply certain tests, or to collect and bring certain articles. 
Whatever it is, let there be no uncertainty as to what is to be done. 

The assignment should make clear the manner in which the 
work is to be done imless the finding of a suitable manner is the 
problem involved. Suggestions as to the mode of attack are often 
permissible and valuable. Difficulties which the pupil cannot sur- 
mount without an expenditm-e of time and effort out of all propor- 
tion to the benefit received should be cleared up sufficiently to 
enable him to utilize his time to the best advantage. 

If references or sources are to be consulted by the pupil, the.y 
should be given specifically — page or chapter — if necessary to 
avoid loss of the pupil's time. Besides the general assignment to 
the group, assignments may be made to individual students. This 
is particularly desirable if the pupil is capable of more work than 
the others, is especially interested in a particular topic, or has 
special facilities for accomplishing a particular assignment. 

Under certain circumstances, especially where the assignment 
contains techni(;al details and is long, it is well for the teacher to 
furnish to the pupils duplicated copies of these details. This 



STUDY 41 

should not release the teacher from vitalizing the assignment with 
the means above mentioned. When the assigmiient is too detailed 
to be easily remembered but not sufficiently so to demand dupli- 
cated copies, the pupils should be required to make the notes 
necessary to insure good preparation. 

The teacher should make as careful preparation for his assign- 
ment as for his recitation. Thorough preparation for the assign- 
ment is time saved on preparing for the recitation. He should 
know his pupils, their capabilities, their interests and their home 
facilities (if any home work is to be done and, of course, there 
will be in agriculture); he should know the aim not only of agri- 
culture but of each topic to be taught; he should know the refer- 
ences available and their relative merit for that specific assignment ; 
and he should know the more important and less important fea- 
tures of the particular problem under consideration. 

When shall the assigmnent be made and how much time shall 
be taken? Assignment at the beginning of a class session for the 
succeeding meeting of the class has the advantage of insuring 
plenty of time for the assignment and avoids breaking into the 
continuity of the class session, but unless the succeeding lesson 
has no connection with the present one there is danger that the 
assigmnent will need to be changed because of developments aris- 
ing from the present lesson. If the lessons have a pedagogical or 
logical sequence it is better to estimate carefully the amount of 
time that will be required and close the class period soon enough 
to make the assignment fully. Take plenty of time. Remember 
that the assignment of the lesson and the study of that lesson by 
the pupils cover usually the first of the formal steps, usually most 
of the second formal step, and frequently parts of the third, fourth, 
and fifth steps. When to this is added the effect of the assignment 
upon the study and the next class meeting it will be seen that when 
the assigmnent is well made the learning is well on its way (2, 3, 
5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 49). 

Study. — ^Generically ''study" has several meanings, some of 
which are highly technical. Herein it is applied to the activities 
of the pupil upon the assignment in making ready for the next 
meeting of the class. This view does not limit it to the use of books. 
If the class meets to hear a lecture from the teacher, the study 
may be of references given that will prepare for a better compre- 
hension of the lecture. If the work is in the laboratory it may be 
the performance of an experiment or demonstration of field work 



42 METHODS OF TEACHING 

in preparation therefor. As pointed out under "assignment" it 
may be any one of a variety of tasks. 

In the public schools, where the laboratory and lecture methods 
are less used than in the college and where the pupils usually use 
books for study and pursue their study with little or no aid from 
the teacher beyond that given at the time of the assignment, the 
study period is of great importance. Upon it the pupil depends 
for much of his education. The value of the class meeting later 
is contingent upon it. The ability of the student to become inde- 
pendent and self-helpful depends upon his developing right ideals, 
plans, and habits of study. His tendency and capability of con- 
tinuing his studiousness after leaving school depend more upon 
the power and habits of study he has developed than upon any 
other one school acquisition. Such habits must be so fixed as to 
become a part of his life. 

It is a test of both the assignment made and the recitation 
anticipated. If pupils are keenly attentive, purposefully, happily, 
and diligently working, it is safe to conclude that an assigmnent is 
well made and that they are looking forward to a class session 
that is to be well conducted. It is a time-saver, especially in the 
process of acquisition which our crowded school conditions with 
little of the teacher's time available for each pupil demand that 
we utilize to the best advantage. Fortunately our superior text- 
books, reference materials, and laboratories make this possible. 
To use this period properly every teacher should knoiv how to teach 
pupils to study. 

Teaching How to Study. — ^Space permits only a brief treatment 
here. For more complete information the teacher is referred to 
the references at the close of this topic and particularly at the 
foot of this page.^ 

The psychology of study, well treated in these references, must 
conform, of course, to the natural processes of learning. The 
teacher must make these processes possible. He must see that 
the physical surroundings of the studying pupils are helpful; that 
his management contributes quiet and orderliness; and that the 
assignment was properly made, furnishing a well-defined aim, 
necessary references and directions, a motive, and a general plan 
of attack. 

* See especially, Earhart's "T^^pes of Teaching"; Strayer's and Nors- 
worthy's "How to Teach"; Colgrove's "The Teacher and the School"; Hall- 
Quest's "Supervised Study"; McMurry's "How to Study." 



THE TEACHER'S PREPARATION 43 

To these he must add definite training of the pupils in study 
procedure and habits. These will vary somewhat according to 
the degree of advancement of the student, the character of the 
subject matter, the manner of conducting the class meetings, 
whether the pupil is to study at home or at school, in the school- 
room, the library, the laboratory, or the field, whether his study 
is to be supervised or unsupervised. 

Regardless of these variations there are some fundamentals 
that are essential. There should be a plan. This plan should 
require a problem, interest, attention, and concentration, available ' 
data, a careful analysis of data, thoughtful consideration of the 
relations, dehberate drawing of conclusions, such verification and 
application of the findings as the particular conditions may require 
and sufficient intelligent repetition to make possible retention and 
recall for future use. It may also require some suggestion from 
the teacher if the pupil is to present it to the class. 

During the working out of this plan the teacher may well give 
definite instructions, aid, and practice in such steps as consulting 
references, making outlines, taking notes, formulating conclusions, 
cultivating attention, and efficient modes of memorizing. 

Supervised Study. — It is not enough that the teacher tell pupils 
how to study. He must work with them until the process is thor- 
oughly understood and then require its performance until it be- 
comes a habit. When a new mode of study is demanded by new 
conditions he should prepare them for it in the same way. It seems 
like a great consumption of time, which it is, but it means much 
time saved ultimately both for pupil and teacher. For this duty 
the teacher should prepare himself as carefully as for his class teach- 
ing. With the large amount of literature on this subject available, 
there is no good reason why every teacher should not prepare 
himself (2, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 24, 29, 39, 40, 44, 45). 

The Teacher's Preparation^Les.son Plans. — The teacher 
should have a thorough knowledge, which he obtained as a student, 
of the subject in general and of the particular portion of it he is 
to teach in a given class meeting. But this is not enough. He 
must have a knowledge of it from the point of view of one who is 
to teach it to others, which is different. He must rearrange his 
knowledge of subject matter and must have a definite teaching 
plan. This is especially needful if his student knowledge was 
received in lecture form at college and he is to teach it to non- 
collegiate pupils. 



44 METHODS OF TEACHING 

In reorganizing his knowledge Ik; must choose those portions 
most important for tliis particular class to learn, arrange them in 
the order best adapted to their psychology of learning, group them 
into teaching units, and keep his knowledge up to date. This done, 
he should prepare his plan of conducting the class work on 
each unit. 

The lesson plan for any given unit should be thoroughly worked 
over and written before the assigmnent is made to the pupils, for 
the pupils' preparation and the teacher's preparation for any given 
class meeting ought to harmonize in plan. Teaching is so complex, 
there are so many byways, inviting to both teacher and pupils, 
there is so much to be taught in so short a time, and confusion is 
so easily created, that a definite aim and a definite plan for reaching 
it are essential. This aim and the details of its working out constitute 
a lesson plan. In addition to the values mentioned such a plan 
contributes to clearness of comprehension, to ease of retention and 
recall, and to orderly habits of study on the part of the pupils. 

What shall such a plan contain? Since it must be in harmony 
with the learning process it must deal with matter and method. 
Most teachers provide two adjacent columns or pages in the 
written form with the subject matter on the left and the method 
on the right.'' 

The subject matter cokmm or page contains a brief sequential 
outline of the facts to be considered with important references to 
sources the pupils are to use. The method column contains an 
outline of the teacher's aims, the pupils' aim, directions, and the 
outstanding questions to be used by the teacher in conducting the 
recitation, and reference lists of materials to use. The material 
is so distributed in the columns as to bring the proper sul^ject- 
matter topic horizontally opposite the appropriate method topic. 
Relative importance and relationship of topics are shown by 
indentations. The sequence of the methods colimin is that of the 
formal steps or such portion of them as is needed for this particular 
lesson. The plan closes with the assignment for future work. 

Such a plan should be made out in sufficient detail to show 
clearly just what the teacher means to do and how he means to do 
it, and also what the pupils are to do, and how they are to do it. 
If review is necessary at the beginning either to strengthen the 
pupils' grasp on former lessons or to arouse their "ap perceiving 

^ See Strayer, "The Teaching Process," p. 173; Earhart, "Types of 
Teaching," p. 237; McMurry, "Method of the Recitation," p. 329. 



CLASS MEETING 45 

masses" for the second of the formal steps it should be included. 
If drill is necessary to acquire facility or to fix for future use it 
should be included also. Whether the aim is knowledge, skill, 
appreciation, or something else, the lesson should be properly out- 
lined. If there are aims subordinate to the main aim they should 
be included. Most plans provide for advance work only, but if 
testing or review be a part of the recitation they should be pro- 
vided for also. Like provision should be made for summarizing 
when that is desirable. 

The extent to which the plans shall go into detail will vary. 
Inexperienced teachers should write theirs out fully and have them 
rigidly criticised until they have developed a good technique in 
plan maldng and until thinking out their work in that form becomes 
habitual. As they grow more proficient, the plans may become 
correspondingly briefer. Ultimately it should not be necessary 
for an experienced teacher to commit to written form the lesson 
plan of a subject with which he is familiar but the time should 
never come when he goes before his pupils without having carefully 
thought out his plan and assembled the necessary materials to 
be used. Lesson plans once written should be carefully preserved 
for future reference. 

A few general comments may be helpful. Making lesson plans 
seems very laborious. It is, but there is a rich reward for the 
teacher who schools himself in it conscientiously, and even richer 
ones for his pupils. See that the aims are sufficiently comprehen- 
sive, but not too remote and intangible. Interpose immediate 
aims if the general aim is not sufficiently motivating. The type 
form of procedure ^ lends itself to the making of a comprehensive 
lesson plan extending over days or weeks. When such a general 
plan is used, specific plans should be provided to guide each day's 
work. In making plans the pupil's capabilities, attainments, 
interests, and point of view must be kept in mind. The plan should 
contemplate finishing the instructional work in plenty of time to 
avoid the assignment being crowded and consequently inadequate 
(8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 26, 34, 44, 48). 

Class Meeting. — Assignment and the study have been con- 
sidered. It remains to consider the class m eeting.^ This class 

8 See McMurry, "Method of the Recitation," p. 2.36. 

' The term "class meeting" is used to avoid the confusion arising from the 
double use of the word recitation, its generic sense meaning any gathering of 
teacher and pupils to consider a lesson and its specific meaning such a meeting 
conducted in a "reciting" manner. 



46 METHODS OF TEACHING 

meeting is a vital complex wherein past experiences are revivified, 
new knowledge introduced, errors corrected, power developed, skill 
perfected, plans prepared, and emotions and aspirations aroused. 
Learning can take place without it but at a sacrifice of time and 
effort and of soundness and fullness. 

The great importance of the class meeting and the invention of 
such aids as printing, and school-room and laboratory equipment 
have given rise to many "methods" of procedure during this class 
meeting, the most common of which every teacher should know and 
be able to use, and to which we shall now give brief consideration. 

The Topical Method. — In this the pupil tells what he can about 
a given to])ic. The topic may have been in the general assignment, or 
may have been a special assignment to that pupil, or proposed by the 
teacher at the moment, or a part of an outline placed on the board by 
the teacher or a pupil, or developed by the class during the meeting. 

It is less direct and specific than the question and answer 
method as usually used. It requires greater ability to organize and 
express on the part of the pupil than do many other methods and is 
therefore better adapted to the advanced students than to begin- 
ners, though in a simple form, especially in narration, it may be used 
with quite young children. Among advanced students it cultivates 
reflection and expression not only in narration and description, but 
in exposition. It is well adapted to review and to the second formal 
step, the presentation of new knowledge. 

When the teacher requires it to be full, accurate, well organized, 
and well expressed, especially if the assigrmient has been skilfully 
made, it overcomes the tendency to memorize the text or to seek 
brief specific answers to problems which ought to receive a fuller 
treatment. It is a good test of the teacher's assignment and of the 
pupil's extent and method of study. It is a preparation for the 
"written lesson" to which it is easily adapted. 

It is a good form of class exercise when the assignment has been 
based on the textbook, reference book, laboratory, or excursions. 

To reach its full value and to avoid errors and misconceptions, 
a brief use of the question and answer method should follow the 
topical recitation, the questions being asked freely by the pupils as 
well as by the teacher. Intelligent, constriictive criticism of the 
presentation should be encouraged. Every teacher should labor to 
develop in his pupils skill in organizing their knowledge for effective 
topical presentation through his assignment, his guiding of the 
pupils' study, and his conduct of the class meeting (3, 4, 41). 



THE QUESTION AND ANSWER METHOD 47 

There is no objection to using textbooks and bulletins in 
connection with the assignments of topics. If certain topics 
are wi'itten on slips of paper with the names of books or bulle- 
tins to be used for each topic, a slip may be handed to each 
member of the class. If there are as many topics as there are stu- 
dents, so much the better. Each student now knows he is responsi- 
ble for his own topic and he feels that when he recites he will be 
presenting a topic which will not be old to the other members of 
the class. 

In making the assignment of topics to individual students, 
it may be well to let each student take down his topic in the 
hearing of the rest of the students so that all will know what 
topics are assigned. This plan of assigning will take more time 
of the class than if slips are written in advance and handed to 
the students individually. 

If there are more students than topics, some of the topics may 
be subdivided but even when they are subdivided there may still 
be enough students so that each topic may be assigned to two mem- 
bers. A double assignment of each topic allows for competition 
between two students. The adroit teacher will see the advantage 
of assigning a good and a poor student the same topic. The teacher 
may write each topic on two or three slips and thus avoid students 
kno\\ang what others have the same topic. The instructor, of 
course, should keep a memorandum of what topics are assigned and 
to whom the assigmiients are made. 

Reciting Topics. — The teacher must know the best arrangement 
of the topics to be recited. He should also know what students are 
most likely to fail, or jjartially fail, in the assignment made. When 
it is found one student has failed to cover his topic well, it may be 
advisable to have another student report more fully. In case no 
other student has been assigned the topic, a reassignment may be 
necessary. Sometimes reassignments may be made under related 
headings so adroitly that the members of the class and the failing 
student do not know that it is a reassignment. Often new phases 
are suggested by the research of the student. These will usually 
call for additional assignments. 

The Question and Answer Method. — The question is the uni- 
versal condition precedent to learning. A question — a problem — 
''wanting to know" — have in all ages prompted the infant to reach 
for the colored ball, the chemist to mix the ingredients, the explorer 
to scale mountains. Asking questions of others is equally universal. 



48 METHODS OF TEACHING 

The inquisitive child at home, the lawyer in court, the traveler on 
his way, the fanner in his field, the doctor in the sick-room, the 
teacher in his school — all are depending upon their ability to ask 
questions of people or of nature and to interpret the replies. 

It is not surprising that the question and answer method should 
be used more universally than any other. Though often abused it 
lends itself, when properly employed, to the accomplishment of 
more of the different ends of the class meeting than does any other 
one method. In accomplishing the thi-ee great aims of the class 
meeting, testing, teaching, and training (drilling), the "three T's", 
it is found about as valuable in one as in the others. Clear-cut, 
well-directed questions test the pupil's preparation and his present 
knowledge and disclose his errors and weaknesses, as well as test 
the teacher 's success in teaching him. They arouse past experiences 
for use in present learning, and elicit new information to be incor- 
porated with it. They pi'ovoke thinking to the end that new and 
general truths are found. They lead to the utilization of these 
truths in solving the most important problems of life. They prompt 
the intelligent and persistent repetition which stores away principles 
and processes where easy and acciu'ate recall makes them avail- 
able for future use. There is no type of learning in which the ques- 
tion, expressed or implied, is not found. Its gamut of appUcation 
is large. It can be adapted to the babe in arms, the unlettered man 
on the street, or the philosopher in his study. It may require for 
answer only a single word, requiring practically no effort, or it may 
have occupied the thoughts of the sages of all ages and still be 
apparently as far from being answered as when the world began. 

Is it any wonder that an instrument of such marvelous pos- 
sibilities requires a skilful manipulation or that it sometimes goes 
wrong for lack of it? 

As usually conducted, the teacher asks the questions and the 
pupil answers them, though in well-conducted class work the pupils 
are free to ask questions. This method enables the teacher to direct 
the development of a subject along its most valuable paths, pre- 
vents monopoly by individual students, and is well adapted to those 
assignments dependent upon books, laboratories, and excursions 
for their preparation. It is of special value in the teaching process, 
particularly in the first formal step. Among dangers in its use are 
that it will result in fragmentary study, thought, and expression, 
and that the teacher will rely upon it when other methods would 
produce better educational results. 



AMONG THE QUESTION AND ANSWER METHOD 49 

Skilful questioning is a real art, an effective means of teaching, 
and a strong influence for good order and good government. Poor 
questioning is all too common and is responsible for much loss of 
interest, wandering of attention, poor preparation of lessons and 
even outright misbehavior in class. With so much at stake, every 
teacher should study to perfect himself in the art of questioning. 
The following suggestions may be helpful : 

Inform, questions should not slavishly follow the text either 
in language or sequence. The question should not contain the 
thinking which the pupil ought to do in answering it. A mere fact 
question may sometimes be justifiable but should not be used 
when a question can be substituted for it which not only requires 
a knowledge of the fact, but also of its relation to some other fact 
or to a principle. 

The proper sequence of the recitation should be determined 
when the lesson plan is made and the questions should mainly fol- 
low this sequence. A " Yes " or " No " question is permissible when 
careful thinking is required to answer it correctly. 

In construction and diction the question should be the best 
possible formulation of the inquiry made and should be so definite 
and clear that a properly prepared pupil of the class to whom it is 
addressed can have no possible doubt of its meaning. Such ques- 
tions need no second formulating. Keep the number of fact ques- 
tions small in comparison with the number of thought questions. 
Ask few questions and make them vital. Make the questions as 
attractive and thought-provoking as possible. Sometimes a ques- 
tion that even startles the class is permissible. Avoid questions 
that lead to "snap judgment" or guessing. Remember that the 
character of to-day's question reaches forward and determines 
largely on the part of the pupils the character of tomorrow 's study. 

In conducting the questioning, see that the questions are asked 
in a voice only so loud as to be heard when good order prevails. 
Hold the entire class responsible for hearing the question. Do not 
repeat the question unless the pupil called upon was not responsible 
for failing to hear. For a difficult lesson it is well to write out the 
questions before but not to lean upon them during the recitation. 
Ask questions of the entire class before designating the pupil who is 
to reply. Distribute questions well about the class. Do not con- 
centrate on the bright pupils. Give one who fails another ques- 
tion. Let questions follow each other with enough briskness to 
hold attention, but give due care to the needs of nervous pupils and 
4 



50 METHODS OF TEACHING 

of slow ones. Encourage pupils to ask questions, not only when one 
has an individual desire for an answer but permit them to question 
the class under proper circumstances. Sometimes have several 
pupils answer the same question without comment on the teacher's 
part, then let the pupils discuss the answers. 

While giving due consideration to the desire of certain pupils 
for answers to their q-uestions leading to some by-path, do not 
allow the class to be led astray from the task of the day. Do not 
permit the pupil struggling earnestly with an answer to be inter- 
rupted by pupils anxious to show they can do better. Do not 
interrupt a pupil for unimportant corrections. Encourage the 
pupil who is honestly striving to reply, if there is a fair chance of 
his succeeding. 

Hold pupils responsible for replying to the class and so other 
pupils can hear and understand. Hold the entire class responsible 
for the correctness of the replies. Usually answers should be in 
complete, well-formed sentences, but sometimes when fullness of 
expression is less needed than some other characteristic and when 
a brief answer is perfectly clear and all that is necessary, brevity, 
should not only be permitted but encouraged and sometimes even 
requested. In some forms of testing, some of development, and 
also some of drill, brevity is greatly to be desired. Where the search 
is for thought, answering in the language of the book is undesirable. 
Vague answers are no more to be permitted than vague questions. 
Do not complain of honest efforts to answer. Do not give the 
impression that answers are wholly wrong because they are not per- 
fect. Do not repeat answers. Pronounce them adequate or inade- 
quate and proceed. Utilize in every possible way past experiences 
of the class in answering questions, especially in a practical subject 
Hiwh as agriculture, where answers based on experience have imusual 
values. Even this maj^ be cai'ried to an extreme (3, 9, 10, 11, 42, 45). 

The Laboratory Method. — The laboratory method is of the in- 
ductive development typc^ operated und(n- special conditions. In its 
usual form, the individual works alone under the supervision of the 
teacher to obtain knowledge new to himself though not necessarily 
to the world, or to make real what for him has been only the- 
oretical. He usually works with material things aided by specific 
apjoaratus. It is usually concerned with the first two of the formal 
steps, though the others are sometimes included. Its most striking 
characteristics arc those of being individual and inductive. Because 
of this it requires ability to work iiidepcMidently and with a certain 



THE LABORATORY METHOD 51 

degree of manipulatory skill, and hence it is adapted to the ad- 
vanced grades in school, though simple forms of object teaching 
related to laboratory work are adapted to the lower grades. It 
promotes careful observation and reflective thinking. It substitutes 
concrete reality for abstract symbolism, a step for which there is 
much need in these days of the domination of the printed page. It 
gives objective demonstration of a subjective principle or process. 
It develops keenness of observation, confidence in the soundness 
of knowledge, independence in habits of study, manual dexterity, 
and a mental attitude of inquiry. In its larger uses where it is ex- 
tended to practicums and practical projects like those in agriculture, 
it develops the necessary motives, knowledge, and skill to enable the 
student to perform successfully the practical processes of the art. 
Of the three features of the teaching-learning process, testing, 
teaching, and training, the testing is frequently present, though the 
teaching and training are the most prominent. 

The problem to be solved by laboratory work should not be a 
set exercise far removed from the lesson plan that is being pursued 
but should be a natural and sequential step in that procedure. It 
should grow out of the major problem with which the class is 
dealing and of which it is an essential component. Laboratory 
work administered in any other way cannot make its largest contri- 
bution to education. This raises a permanent and unsurmountable 
objection to fixed laboratory days with the fixed "lecture" or 
"recitation" days so prevalent in our college administration. This 
plan is all too common in our high schools where it is entirely in- 
defensible as a teaching process, however necessary it may seem 
to be from the standpoint of administration. Some of our best 
high schools have succeeded in overcoming these administrative 
difficulties b}^ the double period plan for all such studies.* Further 
reference will be made to this under topic "Combination Method" 
later in this chapter. 

One of the great advantages claimed for the home project as a 
basis for school instruction is that it becomes a real laboratory, 
maintaining constantly a vital connection with the school work. 
Such a claim would be much more difficult to substantiate for 
the conventional laboratory exercises, isolated, fragmentary, and 
unproductive as they frequently are. Separated from the on- 
flo^\^ng stream of learning they become mere bayous or even dis- 
connected pools. 

"J. Stanley Brown in "School and Home Education," February, 1915. 



52 METHODS OF TEACHING 

The laboratory method is, of necessity, so expensive in time and 
money that every effort should be used to make it as highly pro- 
ductive as possible educationally. Proceedings should be carefully 
planned. Operations and materials should be ready before the 
work is to start. Things already known or that are not of sufficient 
value or that are too difficult should not be undertaken. Notebooks 
should be carefully kept, containing the problem carefully stated, 
the materials used, the processes performed, and the results obtained, 
with significant explanations and conclusions. The results of 
the laboratory work should then be incorporated into the general 
scheme of study and class meetings. The laboratory exercise itself 
furnishes little opportunity for expression in language. Lal)oratory 
work and materials adapted to the different agricultural topics are 
mentioned in Chapters V to XII, inclusive, devoted to those topics. 

The three methods already discussed; viz., the topic, the ques- 
tion and answer, and the laboratory, are the three most important 
methods to be used in the public schools. While other methods 
have their minor values, the teacher who is expert in the use of these 
three need never fail for want of effective method work (4, 6, 16, 
21, 22, 31, 33, 34). 

The lecture method in its extreme form proceeds on the basis 
that teaching is a mere telling process and that all the pupils need 
to do is to think the thoughts after the lecturer. They are to think 
his thoughts after him in the class meeting and take notes. They 
are to think his thoughts after him during the study period and 
study their notes. They are to think his thoughts after him in 
the examination for which they prepare by studying their notes. 

In the class meeting there is no testing; that is left for the formal 
examination; there is no training in the proper use of the term 
and what there is of teaching is reduced to the mere process 
of "telling." The natural processes in learning are assumed, 
not performed. It is needless to say that such a method has 
no place in the public schools, either high schools or grades or 
rural schools. 

At the other extreme the term "lecture method" might be aji- 
plied to any step in the educative process in which the teacher 
"tells" something to the pupils. In this sense this method is effec- 
tively used daily in every kind of school with every type of subject 
matter from the kindergarten to the university. Between these 
two extremes each teacher must decide for himself the degree 
in which he will use the lecture method and the form which it 



THE LECTURE METHOD 53 

shall take, considering his pupils, the subject matter, and the 
aids available. 

In the college and university the extremely rigid and barren 
form first mentioned is improved by references for further study, 
quizzes, laboratory work, discussions, opportunities for questions 
and outlines, term papers, written lessons and other forms of student 
participation and real teaching processes. Even with these modi- 
fications and accessories the set lecture is not justifiable in the public 
schools as a regular method of teaching, even though on special 
occasions it might be justifiable as a diversion. It is defended in 
college on the grounds that no books are available with exactly 
what the instructor wants and in just the form in which he wants 
it; that books are not up to date; that books are not adapted to 
this particular class; that the teacher can organize better than the 
pupils can; and that it saves time. 

However valid these claims may be for certain subjects in certain 
colleges, it is safe to assert that in the public schools the objections 
to the formal lecture as a regular method of teaching far outweigh 
its possible benefits. It utilizes too little pupil activity. It gives 
little opportunity for collecting and organizing information, com- 
paring and evaluating it, drawing conclusions from it, and apply- 
ing these to practical affairs. It concentrates the attention upon 
note taking instead of upon independent and constructive think- 
ing. The sources of information are not available later for con- 
templative perusal and study. It may contain material ill-adapted 
to the pupil 's state of mind. It makes no provision for the pupil 's 
state of mind as aroused by some step in the teaching process. It 
violates many of the laws of learning. It is a poor use of that 
vital and precious period of the meeting of pupils and teacher 
when so much real teaching (instead of mere telUng) could be done. 
It has been aptly characterized as a lazy man's method, since it is 
far easier to "tell" pupils than to educate them to study, to work 
in the laboratory, to compare, to think, to express, and to apply. 

The informal use of the '' telling" method is of inestimable value 
in some phases of public school work. While pupils are gaining pos- 
session of the tools of learning before they can utilize such sources of 
information as the printed page and the laboratory and such means 
of expression as writing, drawing, and other forms of hand activity, 
the teacher must tell much. Even throughout the school course 
it has its legitimate uses. The teacher by talking may give a most 
animated beginning to a new subject, thus inducing the pupils 



54 METHODS OF TEACHING 

to attack the proljlenis with vigor. He may supplement the best 
results the pupils are able to obtain from their available resources. 
He may amplify topics of local importance, especially in agriculture 
and the sciences, much beyond the treatment accorded them in the 
texts and references. He may explain sets of slides and reflecto- 
scope reproductions and thereby give them added significance. He 
may supply the connective tissue for the knowledge obtained from 
the textbook, the references, the laboratory, and the field observa- 
tions. He may utilize correct knowledge not otherwise available. 
Not all things can be "developed"; some must be presented direct 
to the pupil. When for whatever reasons these are not other- 
wise available the teacher can tell them. But he should be 
careful not to tell them what they can advantageously find for 
themselves and which they would enjoy finding. Neither should 
he tell them what they already know. If any one is to tell that let 
the pupil do it. 

College trained teachers are prone to lecture in the high school. 
Their first step in teaching should be to abandon it absolutely, re- 
turning toward (not to) it only as they can trust themselves to use 
it in a sound pedagogical manner. Let them remember that both 
expert observation and stenographic reports show very plainly that 
in the class-room almost universally teachers talk too much.^ It will 
be shown later that the four methods above mentioned properly 
combined constitute the soundest class meeting procedm-e (3, 6, 
8, 11, 21, 22, 23, 31, 33). 

The Problem Method. — The problem method in its simpler 
form includes the transformation of an unknown quantity or 
condition or factor into a known quantity or condition or factor 
through tlu^ aid of those already known, such as making known the 
value of several articles when the value of one and the number of 
articles are known. In its larger forms, especially as found in agri- 
culture, it places the emphasis upon doing something and is devoted 
to discovering from known or knoAvable conditions the best way of 
doing that thing, as hoiv to repair the fence, how to raise a corn crop, 
how to make a profit from chicken raising. 

It is not so much a method of teaching as it is a system of organ- 
izing the subject matter of the curriculum. As such it substitutes 
for the plan of cutting the subject matter up into small and more 
or less arbitrarily determined sections, the exact length of each 
being determined by the length of one day's recitation time, the 
' Romiett Stevens, "The Question as a Measure of Efficiency in Instruction." 



THE TEXTBOOK METHOD 55 

large problem with a set of minor problems within it, all of which 
lead forward to the solution of the major problem. 

As stated in the topic on lesson plans, such a teaching unit might 
extend over the class work of a week or month or even a longer 
period. In following this plan of curriculum organization any or 
all of the methods of teaching (topical, question, laboratory, and 
others) maybe used, as also may the different systems of class man- 
agement. Induction and deduction, the five formal steps of the 
induction development procedure and also the four steps of the 
deductive development will be employed again and again with a 
constant intermingling of the various steps in the solution of the 
various minor problems. In agriculture such a problem (project) 
usually covers a definite unit of farm operation. 

Because of the study looking forward to action and because of 
things being taught in connection with their natural surroundings 
and relationships, motivation, interest, att'^ntion and concentra- 
tion and continuousness of effort are at their best. 

In agriculture such a problem must impress the student as sol- 
uble and worth (to him) solving. It must be broken into smaller 
problems, for each of which data are collected; reflective thinking 
exercised; hypothesis proposed, rejected or retained, and verified; 
and a plan of action determined upon. In agriculture so much data 
is available that careful supervision by the teacher is necessary to 
prevent waste, discouragement, and, perhaps, abandonment. 

The home project is a form of the problem system of organiza- 
tion much used in agriculture. In it large emphasis is placed upon 
the practical and skilful performance of actual farm operations 
under the supervision of the agriculture teacher of the school and 
coiTelated with the school instruction. It is dealt with more fully 
in Chapter XIII of this book.^'' The project method as applied to 
the conventional school studies has been treated in a volume by 
Dr. Charles A. McMurry (see references) (8, 9, 28, 31, 33, 34, 43). 

Minor Methods. — In addition to the foregoing methods there 
are many others that are modifications or special applications of 
them. Among these are the Textbook, the Socratic, the Heuristic, 
Conversational, the Trail and Error, and the Field Observation. 

The textbook method is not so much a method as the lack 
of a method. It is the slavish adherence to the textbook as the 
source of information, as the order of study, and as the sequence of 

'■"See also Stimson, " Vocational Agricultural Education " (Macmillan); 
U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, Report of Agriculture Committee of N. E. A. 



56 METHODS OF TEACHING 

recitation in violation of the psychology of the learning process and 
of any sound lesson plan that might be based thereon. It ignores 
induction, deduction, the five formal steps, development and 
practically all the mental processes but that of memory. 

Since most textbooks are logical rather than pedagogical in their 
arrangement, this method does not utilize the natural motives and 
methods that appeal most to the pupils. As most textbooks con- 
tain condensed conclusions reached by the author, they present to 
the pupils many incomprehensible and unassimilable generalizations 
for which the method offers no adequate treatment. Textbooks 
should not be made to bear the blame that attaches to the text- 
book method. They are of great value and the American school 
would lose a part of its effectiveness without them. With a proper 
method of teaching they are a great source of strength. They 
are the universal source of information which is usually accurate 
and well expressed, often well illustrated and easily and economi- 
cally available. They frequently contain problems, exercises, and 
suggestions of great helpfulness. They "tell" the pupil more 
and better things than could the average teacher and usually in an 
economical way, and do it while the teacher is busy with other 
things. They cultivate in the pupil the habit and ability of study 
and self-help which enable him to continue to be a student to the end 
of life. As a means of acquiring information and of developing 
skill in the application of knowledge they are invaluable. But 
between these two lies one of the most important steps in teaching 
for which they supply no method. 

Usually the teacher who leans too heavily upon the textbook uses 
in the class meeting the least desirable forms of the question and 
answer or the topical methods limiting the sequence of procedure to 
that of the text and testing to accuracy in memorizing the lan- 
guage used therein (10, 23, 49). 

The trial and error method, which, as its name indicates, 
consists of ti'ials, the abandonment of the unsuccessful or ill-adapted 
and the adoption of the successful or well-adapted. Valuable as it 
has been in the evolution of the animal kingdom and the human 
race,^^ it is too wasteful of time and energy to encourage its use 
as one of the methods of teaching to be regularly used in the 
public schools. 

The Socratic method is a form of the question and answer 
method in which the tea cher takes the pupil with whatever 

^' "The Learning Process," p. 16. 



THE FIELD OBSERVATION METHOD 57 

knowledge the latter may possess and without the addition of any- 
further information questions the pupil until he arrives at the new 
knowledge desired. It is long, circuitous, sometimes tedious, and 
usually time consuming. It is better adapted to individual than 
to class instruction and should not be allowed to consume the 
valuable time of the group of students for the sake of clarifying 
the thought of one student or the pride of the teacher in his 
Socratic skill (11). 

The so-called conversation method is not so much a method 
of teaching as a type of class management in which freedom of 
expression and of questioning is allowed the pupils in the develop- 




FiG. 16. — The agriculture teacher st the Hutchinson, Minnesota, high school gave his animal- 
husbandry class practice in stock judging at the county fair. (Prof. Shea.) 

ment of the lesson. As a system of class management it is com- 
mendable when well conducted, especially in the first and second 
formal steps (34). 

The field observation method is a form of the laboratory 
method in which the work done is a study of objects or conditions 
or processes instead of the performance of an experiment. It is 
of great use in all science subjects and absolutely indispensable in 
agriculture. To see things in their practical and natural sur- 
roundings, to utilize the wealth of neighborhood agricultural equip- 
ment, crops, stock (Fig. 16), soils, buildings and equipment, and 
the actual farm operations, to compare local conditions with general 
standards, to objectify and vitalize classroom instruction, to unify 



58 METHODS OF TEACHING 

home and school, to broaden the project work by a knowledge of 
what many are doing, to adapt the school instruction to the home 
conditions, and for many other purposes the agricultural teacher 
and his class should visit neighboring farms as a regular part of 
school work (Fig. 17). The details of what is to be done on these 
trips will be found in the Chapters V to XII, inclusive, which deal 
with the teaching of the different agricultural topics. It may be 
well, however, to mention here a few of the general regulatives that 
should be observed in conducting such visits. 

The lesson plan should be even more carefully made than for an 
exercise in the classroom because the management conditions 
with which the teacher has to cope are much more difficult. Tlu; 
teacher and the pupils should have a definite aim and also well- 
defined and expressed subordinate aims. Definite written instruc- 
tions should be placed in the hands of the pupils containing the 
plan of the trip, the hoiu's, means, and purposes. It should con- 
tain specific instructions of what to see, do, and record. In 
some cases definite questions requiring careful observation before 
answering should be included. A clear understanding should be 
given of how the results are to be recorded. Before putting these 
into the hands of the pupils the teacher should go over the pro- 
posed trip and see if the conditions will enable his pupils to do 
what he proposes to require of them. He should then meet the 
pupils in the classroom, distribute the plans and see that they arc 
thoroughly understood. 

On the trip pupils should imderstand that it is not a holiday but 
a regular assignment of school work to be done in the best possible 
manner. They should be kept busy and orderly (with an order 
adapted to the type of work performed). They should be so super- 
vised as to use plans to the Vjest advantage. Their records should 
be carefully inspected and at a succeeding class meeting the results 
of the trip should be made a subject of systematic consideration 
by the group (22, 31). 

The Heuritis method ^- is simply the inductive process in which 
special stress is laid upon letting each pupil find out for himself 
without the guidance and assistance offered by texts, teachers, 
and other aids. Properly combined with inductive development 
work or laboratory work in which guidance and sources of infor- 
mation are used advantageously it has pedagogic value. Used 
as an exclusive "method" it is wasteful, diffusive, likely to lead 

1^ Monroe, "Cyclopedia of Education," vol. 3, page 260. 



H5°g 




60 METHODS OF TEACHING 

to erroneous conclusions, to unorganized knowledge, nnd to dis- 
couragement (30). 

The written lesson is merely a form of class management in 
which tlie pupil writes upon a given topic or in answei to certain 
questions instead of reciting orally in response to the same topics 
or questions. Its value like that of the topic method and the 
question and answer method depends upon the choice of topics 
or questions and the treatment of the results. If results are given 
proper consideration, either privately or in class, the occasional use 
of such a lesson has definite value. To give a written lesson simply 
to relieve the teacher from conducting the recitation and not to 
use properly the results are both poor management and poor teach- 
ing. Pupils are seldom deceived. The making of agricultural 
booklets '^ as a type of ^viitten work, if properlj^ managed and not 
overdone, has a certain value in teaching the pupil to gather and 
organize information and in cultivating expression. It is better 
adapted to elementary pui)ils than to secondary (3, 4, 36). 

Combination of Methods. — When the teacher and the pupils 
have assembled in the class meeting, conuuonly called in public 
schools the "recitation," the best usage demands that none of the 
methods mentioned be excluded but each be used where it will 
prove to be the most effective. Every method named has its 
particular values and advantages as "svell as its dangers and dis- 
advantages. Not the proper use but the abuse ,of any particular 
one need be feared. A good teacher, acquainted with his pupils, 
his subject matter, and the correct use of the different methods, 
knows which method to use at each step in the progress of the 
recitation. In most good recitations the question, the topic, the 
laboratory, the lecture, the Socratic, the conversational and others 
in more or less modified form will be skilfully interwoven to 
carry through a carefully conceived lesson plan. A pupil may 
present a topic, a teacher or pupil ask a question, the class turn 
to laboratory materials for observation and the teacher add vital 
information and display an oljject for illustration; four of the 
principal methods being used in only a small portion of the time 
of the class meeting. 

If the best teaching is to be done, the organization of the pro- 
gram of recitations, the arrangement and equipment of the room, 
the charactei- of the apparatus and supplies and the fixtures for 
their proper use as well as the type of class management must all be 

^^See Pickard, "Rural Education" (Webb), p. 331. 



THE THREE T'S 61 

so planned that a teacher can utilize any method during ariy portion 
of any class meeting period without inconvenience to himself or to 
the class. (This, of course, does not include such modifications 
of fundamental methods as visits to other points.) All room ar- 
rangements and equipment should be made to conform to this as 
the fundamental necessity and the abihty to utilize skilfully these 
facilities in such a combination of methods should be the final test 
of the teaching efficiency of the instructor. 

The Conduct of the Recitation.— So much has already been 
said under other headings that l)ear directly upon the proper con- 
ducting of the class meeting that it seems unnecessary to say more. 
The proper conditions of health and bodily comfort; the observance 
of the natm-al processes of learning; the character and use of the 
assignment, the study period, lesson plans, various methods of 
instruction; proper organization, administration and class manage- 
ment; and many other things having a bearing upon the conduct- 
ing of the class meeting have been considered. In addition to what 
has been said it seems wise to gather here some brief suggestions 
regarding the conduct of the recitation even though a part of them 
have been alluded to in other connections. 

The Three T's. — The teacher should remember that the reci- 
tation includes the three T's, Testing, Teaching, and Training 
(drilling). They are not wholly separate and mutually exclusive. 
Testing contains some elements of teaching and training, teaching 
is more or less a constant testing and training (drilling) , and train- 
ing has its features of both testing and teaching. But in the rec- 
itation certain types of activities are directed to one of the three 
purposes. These three characteristics of the recitation may be made 
plainer by a more detailed statement of the aims of the recitation. 

These aims have been stated and restated in more or less elab- 
orate form by many writers. A brief and condensed resume must 
suffice here. To test the pupil 's preparation upon the assignment, 
his comprehension of the subject, his general knowledge, his ac- 
curacy, his ability to think, to judge, to apply and to use; to teach 
by pupils contributing the data they have gathered, by the teacher 
directing them in obtaining more data, by the teacher contributing 
additional data, by supplanting error with truth, by leading the 
pupil in the comparison of data and in the formation of conclu- 
sions and the application of these conclusions to the solution of 
new situations; to train in organizing knowledge and in proper 
expression, in acquiring skill in performance of processes, in 



62 METHODS OF TEACHING 

making the results of learning a more permanent possession are 
the principal aims. 

Less Prominent Aims. — ^There are many less prominent aims, 
among which may be named: Keeping the learning process con- 
nected and continuous, arousing motives for intensive study, devel- 
oping self-confidence in pupil and teacher, learning each pupil's 
characteristics, cultivating the mental powers, enabling a pupil to 
compare hunself with others and to help them and to be helped by 
them, furnishing the teacher a check upon the quality of his teach- 
ing, and inculcating the many needed principles to guide hmiian 
action in social surroundings. It is assumed, of course, that the 
recitation is to make its contribution to the attaimiient of all the 
general though remote aims of all education. 

The test, if intended to determine the pupil's preparation for 
the recitation or his fitness to learn what is to be taught during 
that recitation, should be at the first of the period; if to determine 
his grasp of what has been taught during the recitation, it should be 
at the last. It should be well planned, brief, terse, searching, and 
rapidly conducted. Brief, significant, written replies to a well-pre- 
pared list of questions testing the preparation and disclosing the 
weaknesses needing attention can frequently be obtained, corrected, 
and results recorded in one quarter of the recitation period. This 
tests all equally, takes little time, and often enables the class to put 
the remaindei of the period to a more valuable use by showing just 
what does and what does not need attention. Solving problems, 
making topical outlines from memory of the lesson or given portions 
of it is one other good method of testing quickly all members of 
the class. 

The teaching portion of the recitation has already been treated 
quite fully in previous topics. A few cautions may be added here. 
The teacher should know his subject and this particular lesson, 
and not lean on the book nor much upon his written lesson plan. 
He should have ready everything needful for the period and have 
it in working order. He should insist upon good order, attention, 
promptness, and alertness. He should hold to the plan of the lesson; 
hold every pupil responsible for following accurately the progress of 
the work; keep every pupil thinking hard, actively, and con- 
tinuously. No time should be wasted in taking dictation or copy- 
ing. Such material should be prepared on a duplicator and furnished 
to pupils. Recitation time is precious and every minute should be 
made to yield a return which pupils will appreciate as worth their 



DRILL 63 

while. Use objects, pictures, slides, charts, and diagrams plenti- 
fuU}^ but do not let time be wasted upon them. In all but classes 
of only a few members insist upon a pupil standing squarely on his 
feet for all answers of any length. Under all circumstances insist 
upon every pupil mentally standing upon his own feet. Permit 
no *' coaching" or interrupting by the class. Insist upon clear 
thinldng and succinct expression. Remember that the class is a 
group that must be taught and must learn as individuals. There 
is no vicarious learning. The doctrine of every fellow for himself 
is imperative in actually acquiring an education beyond the helpful 
environment which fellowship may contribute. Know your pupils, 
their capacities, interests, motives, and environment and adapt 
your teaching to them (1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 33, 50). 

Drill as a feature of the recitation is treated as a separate topic. 

Drill. — Even when a lesson has been well assigned, well studied 
and so well taught that comprehension, appreciation, and the knowl- 
edge of how to apply it are complete, the desirable processes are not 
necessarily yet complete. Certain portions of the subject matter, 
those that constitute instruments which the pupil will need in the 
future either to obtain further education or to perform the duties 
of life and which he cannot afford to depend upon searching out 
anew for the purpose, must become so fixed in their functioning that 
they become habitual. 

The process used to "insure the functioning of the experience 
in habit" ^* is called drill. Since it is a habit-forming process it 
is governed by the laws and conditions peculiar to habit forma- 
tion. The material to be drilled upon should first be clearly com- 
prehended. Attentive and thoughtful repetition should then occur 
until retention and recall are automatic and the necessary skill 
in use is attained. Short periods of repetition under strict and 
undivided attention should succeed each other after gradually 
successively longer periods of rest from drill. This should be con- 
tinued until the necessary degree of perfection is attained. The 
best form, stripped of all unnecessar}^ details, should be chosen at 
the outset and never varied during drill. 

Efficiency in drill is conditioned, within certain limits, by clear- 
ness of orginal comprehension, interest in attaining proficiency, 
persistence in repetition, the avoidance of monotony, the avoidance 
of variation, the avoidance of fatigue, and the satisfaction in 
the effect. 

" Bap;ley, "Educative Process," p. 328. 



64 METHODS OF TEACHING 

Some of the most common of the impelUng motives are appreci- 
ating the future need, the curiosity instinct, the emulation to excel 
either some one else or one's own record, the instinctive love of rep- 
etition, and the satisfaction in attaining skill. When these are 
inefficient the teacher must supply some more tangible incentives. 

The abuses of drill by attempting to utilize it as a means of 
accompHshing comprehension, or appreciation, using it to excess, 
violating the laws of habit formation in applying it and wasting the 
time of the group drilling upon something for which only one or 
two were in need, have led to much criticism of drilling. But it has 
its place and is as necessary as are the other steps in teaching. 

Charters ^^ calls attention to the distinction between drill and 
application, defining the former as "the reviewing or repeating of a 
unit over and over again in the same situation" and the latter as 
the "use of a unit in a new situation." In this sense the use of 
drill in agriculture is much less needed than it is in the conven- 
tional studies. Agriculture, however, furnishes frequent and 
interesting opportunities for the repeated application of certain 
fundamental principles and processes. If the teacher is watchful of 
opportunities to apply them he will have one of his richest rewards : 
that of beholding his teachings functioning naturallyin the daily lives 
of his pupils. Principles comprehended and understood are of little 
value until they eventuate in human action. Drill on the few things 
necessary, but place greater emphasis upon practical and successful 
application and in this give plenty of training in determining when 
and how to make the application (8, 11, 12, 14, 20, 34, 37, 44, 45, 49). 

Skill may be briefly defined as proficiency in execution. To 
attain it two things are necessary: form and practice. Form can be 
acquired through trial and error (trial and accidental success), 
through directions and example, through external guidance, or 
through any (;ombination of these. In acquiring form reflection on 
the various elements and their organization is frequently of value; 
imitation, instincts, automatic activities, ideas, imagination, in- 
genuity, experimentation, attention, and interest play their parts. 

The second necessity, practice, can be obtained by drill the 
characteristics of which have just been discussed. After sufficient 
attention has been put upon the action to obtain satisfactory 
form, the attention should be held principally upon the results, not 
upon the process. Needless and conflicting actions should be 
omitted in acquiring form and avoided during drill. So far as 

" "Methods of Teaching," p. 225. 



SKILL 65 

possible, correct form should be adopted early before incorrect 
form has become habitual with all the difficulties attendant upon 
the breaking of a wrong habit. While good form is essential it is 
sometimes narrow pedantry to insist upon one form alone for all 
persons when some latitude may be allowed without any ill effect 
upon the skill. There are certain differences in persons that 
make a difference in form desirable. This is frequently illustrated 
in various athletic performances, in penmanship, and in applied 
arts. There is also some danger in teaching the skills that two 
much emphasis may be placed upon explanation and not enough 
upon imitation and execution. The real test of skill is the ability 
to execute with the desired proficiency and not the ability to 
describe and explain. 

Skill, the ability to do ivell, is always at a premium. The world 
has always applauded and rewarded the man of skill. The schools 
have far too long exalted reflection to the exclusion of execution. 
The evolution of universal education demands that education shall 
not only be universal in that it shall include all the people but also 
that it shall be adapted to the needs of all the people. There are many 
for whom the grasping of abstract principles is difficult but who 
have great possibilities in the realm of the skills. For these the 
schools must provide an opportunity of education as well adapted 
to their needs as the old education has been to the reflectively 
inclined. Edward L. Thorndyke^^ says: "The taste for workman- 
ship — the impulse to do the job as it should be done, making a first- 
rate product by a fit means — is one of the most easily developed, 
but also one of the best virtues. It is commonly more truly 
cultural or refining than an interest in correct manners, speech, 
or opinions about the fine arts, because it is commonly more 
sincere and less tainted with ostentation." 

Farming is a combination of science and art. From the birth of 
man to the nineteenth century it has been mainly an art guided by 
the "rule of thumb." The development of the sciences during the 
nineteenth century and the establishment of the agriculture ex- 
periment stations in 1887 through joint state and federal action 
mark the real advent of scientific agriculture in the United States. 

Agricultural science has done much to improve agricultural prac- 
tice, but farm skills based on the trial and accidental success and the 
rule of thumb developed therefrom are still far too prevalent. 
Many of the farm skills need careful analysis, judicious elimination 

i« "Education," p. 48. 
5 



66 METHODS OF TEACHING 

of the wrong and the useless features, effective synthesis of the 
correct and the necessary, and intelhgent drill upon the perfected 
process. The schools and colleges have not yet done their share in 
this field. Highly skilful plowing, milking, grooming, stacking, 
cornhusking, cotton picking, pruning, spading, transplanting, 
rope work, horse training and scores of other farm processes de- 
pendent upon proficiency of motor control are far too rare. 

The teacher of agriculture must do his share. Processes must 
be studied and analyzed. Pictures, slides, films, and actual per- 
formance must illustrate the proper movements. Practice in 
normal surroundings must furnish the drill necessary to produce 
proficiency and to make correct performance habitual. In teach- 
ing the processes dealt with in Chapters V to XII the teacher 
should use every possible opportunity to extend his teaching be- 
yond mere theoretical comprehension into the field of actual execu- 
tion (16, 18, 34, 37, 46, 47, 49). 

Reviews. — -As the form of the word indicates, the review is to 
view again that which has been the subject of study. The major 
purposes of a review are to obtain more complete comprehension 
and appreciation and to increase the probability of successful 
retention and recall. The attainment of the former is by means of 
regular teaching processes and of the latter by some of the proc- 
esses used in drilling. 

In the teaching the regular steps of induction and deduction 
may be used, the data being the larger and more important points 
made in the several lesson units or thought units instead of the 
smaller units used in the separate lessons to develop these larger 
points. The larger points are considered in their relationships, 
thus leading to a reorganization of the subject matter of one or 
more lessons on the basis of wider connections. The emphasis 
which has heretofore been upon the small groups of facts such as 
may be contained in a single lesson is now placed upon the large 
system which is created by the proper correlation of the conclu- 
sions reached in those lessons. Its psychological basis is that of 
old knowledge under the influence of the new and an appreciation 
of new knowledge by the aid of the old. This value is largely lost 
if the review is simply a retracing of the exact steps taken by the 
pupils in the original process of learning, however valuable 
such a process may be as mere drill. As a teaching procedure 
the review must be a new view. New data, new grouping, new 
comparisons must be added to illuminate the relationships, create 



THE TEACHER'S SKILL IN CONDUCTING REVIEWS 67 

new associations and strengthen old ones. Application is fre- 
quently a very effective process in the teaching as well as in the 
drilling featui'es of the review. 

The drilling purpose is accomplished partly as a by-product of 
the teaching process of the review. Working over in the review 
lesson the knowledge acquired in the original lessons gives a repe- 
tition which improves retention and recall. But it is not safe to 
depend upon such casual repetition to furnish the necessary per- 
manence in remembering especially if the new relationships are 
developed through the reviewing procedure. It is therefore well 
to have special drill upon the important points brought out in the 
review which it is desirable to have remembered. 

Some of the other purposes of review are to test the pupil, to 
test the teacher, to develop the pupil's skill in the reorganization 
of his knowledge into large units and his power to discriminate be- 
tween the important and the less important in what he has learned 
and to strengthen the vveak points in the teacher's methods and 
in the pupil's knowledge and processes of learning. 

The methods best adapted to the review are the topical (with 
its attendant, the written lesson) and the question and answer 
method. The laboratory method might be given a limited use 
whenever the test element is very large or the problem requires a 
new correlation of several previously more or less disassociated 
processes. The lecture method is wholly inadequate for review. 

The principles utilized in drill features of the review are those 
that have been mentioned in the topics "Drill" and "Skill" of the 
foregoing pages. 

The Teacher's Skill in Conducting Reviews. — ^As a test the 
review ought to be directed toward a comprehension of corre- 
lations and an appreciation of relative importance rather than to- 
ward the memory of details. To accomplish this it is necessary that 
the teacher make even more full and careful preparation for the 
review lesson than for an original lesson and that he conduct the 
recitation with the best teaching methods at his command. For 
w^hile pupils ought to study to accomplish the remote aims of educa- 
tion, they are only human and are going to bring to the recitation 
the kind of material they think the teacher is going to ask at their 
hands. If the teacher demands scraps, isolated facts, unimportant 
details, and catch questions in the recitation that is the tale of 
bricks they will strive to bring, while if he requires underlying 
principles, significant features, vital relationships, and practical 



68 METHODS OF TEACHING 

applications and processes their study hours will be devoted to 
meeting his expectations. Though this difference is especially 
important in the review recitation every teacher should fully 
appreciate that his marmer of conducting the recitation has more 
influence than has any other one factor in determining the prep- 
aration his pupils make for that important event. 

When to Review. — ^The time of recurrence of reviews ought to 
be determined by the organization of subject matter rather than 
by the clock or the calendar. If the review is for the purpose of 
recalling former lessons as the step preceding the presentation of the 
new lesson, it should occur at the beginning of the recitation. If it is 
for the purpose of summarizing the results of the current lesson, 
it should occur at the close of the recitation. If it is to summarize 
and fix clearly in mind the elements of a given unit of subject 
matter it should be given at the end of that unit whether the unit 
be a part of one lesson or consists of several lessons. To review 
weekly or monthly regardless of the topics covered or their re- 
lationships is poor teaching. Within the limits of what has just 
been said short, frequent reviews are better than long, infrequent 
ones. The testing values of reviews will naturally come under the 
next topic (1, 9, 11, 20, 31, 44, 45). 

Testing and Measuring. — Every teaching exercise regardless 
of the form or of the method pursued (excepting the lecture method 
in its strict use) contains in greater or less degree testing and meas- 
uring features. Experienced teachers, in order to know better how 
the means in use are accomplishing the ends sought in education, 
desire some more specific measure than is offered by the regular 
teaching processes. This is especially true in the work of the ad- 
vanced pupils. Until the last score of years most of these tests have 
been of a subjective nature. They were based upon the judgment 
of the teacher or tester or examiner, which judgment was itself 
based (beyond what was learned from class woi'k and reviews) upon 
tests, quizzes, and formal examinations. They were intended to 
give the teacher a knowledge of the pupil, the pupil a knowledge of 
himself, and the teacher a knowledge of the success of his own 
teaching. The teacher's knowledge of the pupil he could use to 
correct the faults in the pupil's education, to determine the 
classification and promotion of pupils, to decide the content and 
method of succeeding lessons and many other features of organ- 
ization, management and method. The pupil's self-knowledge 
furnishes motivation and direction for his future efforts. The 



WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS 69 

teacher's knowledge of the success of his oAvn teaching furnishes 
the basis for a readjustment of his methods. 

An exercise so valuable in so many different ways cannot well 
be abandoned even though there are some objections urged against 
it. The complexity of the learning process, the crudity of picsent 
methods, and the importance of achieving the aims of education 
demand constant effort if we are to keep even approximately near 
to desiral^le standards. Measuring the results of our teaching is 
one of the checks used for that purpose. If the pupil is to obtain 
knowledge — then we must test to ascertain his possession of it and 
his ability to organize it and apply it. If he is to possess habits, we 
must test for the presence of the right habits functioning in the 
right manner. If he is to have skills we must test his proficiency in 
the performance of the particular skills and not merely his ability 
to describe the performance. Application and actual performance 
are so difficult to administer in schools that the written examination 
has been made to bear some responsibilities to which it is not well 
adapted. This is the origin of many of the objections that have 
been raised against it. 

Written Examinations. — If formal written tests and examina- 
tions are to be given they should conform to the principles of ques- 
tioning and the review already mentioned. In addition to what 
has been stated already a few suggestions are added here. If the 
examiner intends to assign different values to questions, pupils 
should know the assigned values before writing the answers ; some 
choice may be allowed in regarding which questions shall be an- 
swered; and the results of the examination should not be over- 
influential in determining the standing of the pupil but due weight 
should be given to daily work, written work, and oral and written 
quizzes; the occurrence of the examination should not be deter- 
mined by the calendar but by the pedagogical organization of the sub- 
ject matter; examinations should be distributed throughout the year 
according to the last statement and should not be concentrated into 
one cramming, nerve-racking week; those physically unfit through 
youth, illness or abnormality should not be subjected to them. 

• Even with all that can be done to overcome the objections to 
subjective tests it is still urged that the results are unreliable 
because of the differences of knowledge, judgment, prejudice, and 
bias of those who record results. ^^ 

^^ See Starch, "Educational Measurements"; Finkelstein, "The Marking 
System in Theory and Practice"; Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly, "Educational 
Tests and Measurements." 



70 METHODS OF TEACHING 

Objective Tests. — To overcome this much has been done in the 
past decade to develop objective tests based upon pupil performance 
in the art of doing. Rapid progress has been made in the production 
of standard objective tests for the coimnon branches. While these 
represent a movement in the right direction, that of establishing a 
scientific objective basis, they are as yet open to the criticism that 
crudeness and imperfection mark the standards set and that the 
subjective element is still present in the creation of the standards, 
the application of the tests, and the interpretation of results. Many 
standard tests for the common branches are available for use at 
moderate cost. ^^ 

The teacher of agriculture has an excellent opportunity to 
utilize tests which have the merit of being objective, practical, 
and to some extent standardized. In exercises, practicmns, pro- 
jects, and other forms of doing he can easily see whether or not his 
teaching has been efficient. The final test of the efficiency of his 
work in the school will be whether or not the pupil wants to farm, 
knows what to do in farming, can do the thing skilfully on the farm, 
and, ultimately, Avhether or not he is farming successfully and 
happily. In addition to these evidences in the lives of his par- 
ticular school pupils, there should be found tests of his community 
leadership in definite improvement in the farm and rural life 
practices in the community which has come within the sphere of 
his influence (1, 2, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, 20, 25, 27, 32, 34, 35, 38, 
41, 44, 45, 47). 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. Give a specific illustration of the inductive procedure in a lesson. 
The deductive. 

2. State circumstances under which the inductive steps ordinarily omitted 
should be used in an agricultural lesson. 

3. State ten things which the teacher might assiune as being known if 
his pupils were reared on local farms but which he would have to teach if his 
pupils were reared in town or city, What connection has this with induction 
or deduction? 

4. Name five agricultural topics suitable for teaching by means of the 
"five formal steps." 

5. Select one of the topics in exercise four and show of what each step 
consists. 

6. What kind of process is used in finding, with the scales and the Bab- 
cock tester, the daily butter fat yield of a cow? 

^^See Chapman and Rush, "The Scientific Measurement of Classroom 
Products"; Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly, "Educational Tests and Measure- 
ments." 



EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS- 71 

7. What kind of a process is used in teaching the reason for the dust 
mulch? 

8. State five problems each suitable for the "aim" in an assignment. 

9. Write a sample assignment for a lesson in agronomy. 

10. Make an oral assignment of a lesson in poultry. 

11. What are the objections to assigning the lesson by the textbook pages? 

12. Show how agricultural journals may be utihzed in an assigrmaent; 
how farmers' bulletins may be used. 

13. What are the advantages of making the assigimient at the beginning 
of the recitation? At the close? 

14. What are the most common faults in making assignments? 

15. What special suggestions should be made to agricultural teachers 
regarding assignments? 

16. Submit the plan of a lesson on finding the per cent, of stand of corn. 
One on selecting seed for one of the principal crops in your locality. 

17. Outhne in topical form for the purposes of a recitation a lesson on the 
construction of a poultry hou^se. 

18. Designate the topics in exercise seventeen, each of which would be 
suitable for a written lesson to occupy forty minutes. 

19. Under what circumstances is a written lesson justifiable? 

20. Make a hst of the ten principal questions you would ask a class in a 
recitation on the humus content of soil. 

21. Illustrate what is meant by a "leading" question. 

22. What reasons are there to be urged against relying upon the formal 
questions printed in the text? 

23. Recall instances in your experience of faulty questioning. (Avoid 
local personal allusions.) 

24. State five problems in agriculture, each suitable for a laboratory 
exercise of thirty minutes. 

25. State some of the abuses or failures of the laboratory method which 
you have experienced. 

26. Name ten topics in agriculture in which laboratory work would be 
prominent. 

27. Suggest ways and means of keeping the laboratory work and the reci- 
tation work connected. 

28. Enumerate the objections to the lecture method in pubhc schools. 

29. Illustrate by specific examples the proper use of the "telling" method 
in a class in agriculture. 

30. Attack or defend the statement that relying upon the " teUing " method 
is a lazy man's procedure. 

31. Show the relations between the laboratory method, the problem 
method, and the project method. 

32. Make a Ust of laboratory exercises, another of practicums, and another 
of projects all in farm crops and adapted to your locality. 

33. What are the objections to the textbook method? 

34. Suggest five things that would tend to overcome the evil results of 
over-rehance on the textbook? 

35. Write a series of Socratic questions that, without other aid, would 
tend to convince a man of his error who thought the potato was a "root." 

36. Make a detailed set of instructions suitable for guiding your class in 
an observation lesson at a specified nearby farm. 

37. Make a list of subjects suitable for agricultural booklets to be made 
b}^ the seventh grade class. 

38. Choosing your own assignment, write a lesson plan that will show 
the use of the question and answer, topic, laboratory, and telling methods in 
one forty-five minute period. 



72 METHODS OF TEACHING 

39. State the principal advantages of the combined method. 

40. Choosing your own assignment, show how you would test, teach, and 
driU in one recitation period. 

41. Make a list of questions adapted to the testing on the topic used in 
forty and formulate them so as to require clear thinking but jjrief answers. 

42. Make a list of ten things in the agriculture lessons upon which j'Oii can 
justify drilUng. 

43. Name five farm "skills" that to 3fovn" knowledge are imskilfully per- 
formed by many farmers in your locality. 

44. To what do you attribute the lack of skill in each case mentioned in 
forty-three ? 

45. Suggest remedies for each item of your list mentioned in forty-three. 

46. Make a hst of points in the course in farm crops at which you would 
stop for review; in animal husbandry; in poidtry; in farm management. 

47. What recitation method do you prefer in the review? Why? 

48. Make a sample set of examination questions to be used in the agron- 
omy class including any instructions you would give to the pupils about them. 

49. State the relative merit and lack of merit in letters and percentages 
as a means of recording the results of the work of the pupils. 

50. Give yourself an examination upon a set of questions similar to these: 

(a) Are my assignments clear, full, complete? Are they stimulating? 
Do they set forth a definite problem? Are references explicit and sources 
available? Are assignments carefully prepai'ed before meeting the class? 
Do they contain modifications advisable because of discoveries made in 
the recitation? 

(b) Do my pupils study to advantage? With zest? Do they have good 
systems of note-taking, of attacking problems, of organizing their findings? 

(c) Are my lesson plans adapted to my recitation plans? Are they in 
proper sequence? Do they provide for sufficient pupil activity? Teacher 
freedom? 

(d) Do I confine myself too closely to one method? If so, to which? 
Do I ask too few thought questions? Do I dominate the coiu'se of thought 
too much? Do I direct it too little? Do pupils ask enough questions? Are 
my questions well formulated? Are they sufficiently thought provoking? 
Do I repeat questions unnecessarily? Do I give time for thoughtful answers? 
Do I ask questions briskly enough to sustain interest? Am I heard? If not, 
why? Do I provoke disorder by mj- loud voice? Are my questions tactfully 
distributed among pupils? Do I permit talkative or unprepared pupils to 
rob the class? Do I permit vague answers? Do I habitually echo the answers 
of pupils? Do I talk too muchf 

(e) Do I have my room and materials ready before class time? Are 
laboratory materials and apparatus conveniently arranged? Are pupils seated 
to the best advantage? Are class- and pupil-movements well plarmed and 
routinized? Do I remove unnecessary sources of distraction? 

(/) Do I lean on the textbook too heavily? Do I use objects, laboratory 
materials, field trips, and home observation assignments sufficiently? 

ig) Are my drills purposive, well organized, and snappy? Are they 
adapted to agriculture? Do I pay enough attention to improving local 
farm skills? 

When these have been answered, prepare a similar set for further tests 
of yourself. Use great care to see that you deal honestly with yourself in 
answering and in evaluating answers. 

REFERENCES 

iBagley, William Chandler: "The Educative Process." 
2 Bagley, William Chandler: "Classroom Management." 



REFERENCES 73 

^ Betts, George Herbert: "The Recitation." 
" Bourne, Henry E. : "The Teaching of History and Civics." 
^ Briggs, Thomas H., and Coffman, Lotus D.: " Reading in Public 
Schools." 

^ Chancellor, William EsTABRooK : "Class Teaching and Management." 
" Chapman, J. Crosby, and Rush, Grace Preyer: "The Scientific Meas- 
urement of Classroom Products." 

^ Charters, W. W.: "Methods of Teaching." 
^ Charters, W. W.: "Teaching the Common Branches." 
1" CoLGRovE, Chauncey P.: "The Teacher and the School." 
" CoLviN, Stephen Sheldon: "An Introduction to High School 
Teaching." 

1- CoLviN, Stephen Sheldon: "The Learning Process." 
" CoLviN, S. S. and Bagley, W. C: "Human Behavior." 
" Davis, Sheldon Emmor: "The Work of the Teacher." 
1^ Dearborn, George Van Ness: "How to Learn Easily." 
'■'^ Earhart, Lid a B.: "Tjrpes of Teaching." 

1^ Finkelstein, I. E.: "The Marking System in Theory and Practice." 
1* P^REEMAN, Frank N.: "How Children Learn." 
'^Hall-Quest, Alfred Lawrence: "Supervised Study." 
-" Hartwell, Ernest C: "The Teaching of History." 
21 Hollister, Horace A.: "High School and Class Management." 
-2 Hummel, William Gran\"ille and Bertha R. : "Materials and 
Methods in High School Agriculture." 

2=» Jones, W. Franklin: "Principles of Education AppUed to Practice." 
2^ Kitson, Harry D.: "How to Use Your Mind." 

25 Klapper, Paul: "The Teaching of Arithmetic." 

26 McMuRRY, Charles A. and Frank M.: "Method of the Recitation." 

27 McMuRRY, Charles A.: "Conflicting Principles in Teaching." 

28 McMuRRY, Charles A.: "The Project Method in Teaching." 

29 McMuRRY, Frank M.: "How to Study." 

^^ Monroe, Paul (Editor): "Cyclopedia of Education." 

^1 Monroe, Paul (Editor): "Principles of Secondary Education." 

^2 Monroe, Walter Scott, DeVoss, James Clarence, and Kelly, 
Frederic James: "Educational Tests and Measurements." 

3* Nolan, Aretas W.: "The Teaching of Agriculture." 

3* Parker, Samuel Chester: "Methods of Teaching in High Schools." 

35 Pearson, Francis B.: "The Vitahzed School." 

sspicKARD, A. E.: "Rural Education." 

3'^RowE, Stuart H. : "Habit Formation and the Science of Teaching." 

3* Salisbury, Albert: "School Management." 

^9 Salisbury, Albert: "The Theory of Teaching." 

■"• Seerley, Homer H.: "The Country School." 

*' Starch, Daniel: "Educational Measurements." 

^Stevens, Romiett: "The Question as a Measure of Efficiency in In- 
struction." 

^ Stimson, Rufus W.: "Vocational Agricultural Education." 

*'^ Strayer, George Drayton: "A Brief Course in the Teaching Process." 

*5 Strayer, George D. and Norsworthy, Naomi: "How to Teach." 

^ Thorndyke, Edward L. : "Education." 

^■^ Thorndyke, Edward L.: "Principles of Teaching." 

** Twiss, George Ransom: "Science Teaching." 

*^ White, Emerson E.: "The Art of Teaching." 

5" Woodley, O. I. and M. Virginia: "The Profession of Teaching." 

" Woofter, Thomas Jackson: "Teaching in Rural Schools." 

*2 Watson, John B. : "Behavior." 



CHAPTER V 
HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

"The specific aim of the work in Farm Crops is to enable young people 
to obtain such a knowledge of the characteristics, propagation, culture, im- 
provement, storage, marketing, and use of the principal local field crops as 
will prepare them for success in field crop farming." — Report of Committee 
on Agriculture of the N. E. A. Commission on Reorganization of Secondary 
Education. 

The more restricted meaning of the term Agronomy is used in 
this chapter. As here used it incUides the pro(hiction of field 
crops and the marketing and uses of their products. The special 
part relating to soils, which is often included in the broader mean- 
ing of the term Agronomy, is considered in a, separate chapter in 
this book. 

The local character of the work in field crops as suggested in the 
foregoing quotation indicates that it is the intention of educators 
that in high schools at least the only crops of value in the locality 
are to be included in the studies made. Of course, crops which are 
not yet used in any region, but which ought to be grown there, 
should be included in the studies. 

The vocational character of the instruction is also implied in the 
above quotation. If the work were not vocational, crops of other 
regions may as well be studied as those of the locality. In vo- 
cational schools, it is important that the work in field crops be 
devoted, first, to those crops which are of greatest economic im- 
portance in the region; second, to those which are of secondary 
importance in that region; third, to those crops which should be 
grown in the region or may well be introduced. If any other crops 
are to be considered it will be for the sake of broadening the 
knowledge of the students in the agronomy of other sections. And 
this phase of the work can hardly be considered vocational. Yet 
for college students and perhaps students in teacher training de- 
partments such crop would probably be included. 

Northern students in vocational schools would probably not 
include such field crops as cotton, hemp, sugar cane and rice. 
Southern students in vocational courses would probably not con- 
sider the growing of flax and Canada field peas. In regions where 
tobacco is not grown it would probably be omitted. The same 
could be said of a number of field crops. 

74 



ORDER OF TREATMENT 75 

Relation of Agronomy to other Subjects. — The work in field 
crops is somewhat fundamental to the work in several other agri- 
cultural subjects. For example, it should come earlier in the 
course than soils and earlier than horticulture. Of course, the 
brief consideration of special soils for particular crops will be a part 
of the work with field crops. But in a course of study, a student 
should be expected to study plants before he begins to study soils. 

The study of horticulture is more highly specialized than that 
of field crops, and the student is beginning on more famiUar 
ground when he begins with farm crops. The subjects of agron- 
omy and horticulture overlap somewhat in certain market crops, 
as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cabbage. In any particular re- 
gion the instructor of agriculture will be able to decide in which of 
these subjects to place such crops. If they are grown as field 
crops there, he can continue to consider them under that head. 
Otherwise they will natm'ally be included as garden crops. 

Order of Considering the Crops. — First make a list of the crops 
which are to be considered in the study. Put at the head of the list 
those crops of greatest local or regional importance. These are 
put first for several reasons: (a) They are likely to be of greatest 
economic importance. (6) They will most readily gain and main- 
tain the interest of the student, (c) They will form the path lead- 
ing from the known to the unknown. 

Next on the list place those crops which are Uttle used in the 
region but which should be grown there for some reason, say as 
money crops, for stock feed, or as soil improvers. Examples in 
some regions might be soybeans or alfalfa, or crimson clover, or 
sugar beets, or rape for pasture. 

In a third group place such crops as can be grown in the region 
and would be recommended for trial, but which are almost un- 
known there. 

Lastl}^, consider crops of great economic importance to the 
coimtry but not growTi locally because of climate, moisture, or soil. 
Examples of this group for some regions might be peanuts, kafir, 
sugar cane, hemp, cotton in the North, and flax in the South. 
This would be non-vocational study. 

Order of Treatment. — The direct or seasonal order of treatment 
should be used rather than the historic or the old logical order. By 
the direct order is meant the order in which the student would 
usually proceed in producing the crop. See the project steps in 
outline near the close of the project chapter. 



76 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

Class Work in Agronomy. — The topical method of conducting 
the class work is eiisily applied to this sul)ject. Theie are niuneroiis 
topics which may be divided and subdivided. References should 
be made to the best texts, books, and bulletins. The sources 
of material are many. Arrange the topics according to the season. 
When it is time to select corn or other seeds, study seed selection. 
Study testing at seed-testing time. In the winter when field crop 
operations are few, study the enemies, varieties, and topics which 
may be illustrated from specimens. Suit the classroom topics to 
the laboratory exercises, field trips, and project work throughout 
the course. 

Relating Topics to Projects. — There maj' be nearly as many 
projects pursued in the subject matter of agronomy as there are 
students in the class. Some may be growing corn, or hay, or pas- 
ture, while others are growing money crops, such as wheat, or oats, 
or cotton. Besides each student covering the topics of his own 
project, he may reasonably be expected to study the projects being 
pursued by other members of the class. Students will have con- 
siderable natural interest in each other's projects. 

If students are all pursuing about the same projects in agron- 
omy, it may seem difficult to the teacher to give individual topics 
to different members of the class and yet have the topics related 
closely to the projects being pursued at home or at school. This 
difficulty is less real than it may seem. The projects are long and 
continuous and cover so much subject matter that they may be 
[greatly subdivided into numerous small topics. For example, if 
the student's project is the production of alfalfa, the associated 
topics assigned to individuals or- pairs of students may be as folloAvs: 

Value of lime. Forms of lime. 

Signs of acidity in soil. Compositfon of alfalfa. 

Why lime is needed for alfalfa. Methods of inoculation. 

Sources of inoculation materials. Seeding of alfalfa. 

Sources of seed. . How seed is produced. 

Why Fiiunid climates do not produce Eradiciating weed stseds from soil before 

alfalfa seed. planting. 

Best dates for planting alfalfa. Signs of when to cut alfalfa. 

Methods of curing the hay. Alfalfa as a money crop. 

Alfalfa as a feed on the farm. Potatoes with alfalfa. 

Alfalfa on drained land. Improving poor soils for alfalfa. 

The effects of infreciuent cutting. The effect of pasturing. 

Duration of alfalfa j)lantations. Cultivation of alfalfa stul)ble. 

Illustrative Material. — In every phase of the subject of agron- 
omy, there should be an abundance of illustrative material present 



ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 



77 



for each recitation. ' Never think of having a recitation in agronomy 
without having considerable illustrative material present. If the 
study concerns corn, then samples of different types of corn should 
be in the room at recitation time to illustrate the points that are 
discussed. Corn of all types, on the cob, and shelled in bottles, 
corn products such as sugar, syrup, starch, oil, bran, breakfast foods 
gum, etc., stalks of corn, tassels, and silks shown on the stalk, if 
possible, should be present. Corn tillage implements should be 
available. Fertilizers and lime used on corn or other crops should 
be shown. Samples of bad weeds most concerned at the time or 




Fig. 18. — At this Minnesota school, after studying corn and selecting the seed in the field, 
each ear is carefully tested in the school laboratory before planting time. (Lewiston Con- 
solidated School.) 

with the particular crop should be shown. It is better to study 
weeds in connection with the crops than individually. 

Students should form the habit of hunting up the illustrative ma- 
terial in the room or elsewhere for each recitation. Attention of 
students to the illustrative material needed should be a part of the 
lesson assignment. 

Of course, many of these materials may be kept in the room con- 
stantly but some of the materials should be fresh for each recitation. 
If the season will permit, fresh stalks of growing corn are better 
than dried ones. This is also true of weeds, grasses, legumes, 
grains, fiber crops, root crops, and others. Obtaining fresh speci- 
mens and other materials for each recitation should be a part of the 
work of the student, but plans for obtaining the materials should be 
discussed with the instructor. 



78 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



In some cases the instructor will find it better to take the class 
out to the materials rather than to bring the materials into the 
class-room. If corn roots are to be studied, for example, it is better 
to make the study where the corn is growing. Students may learn 
to know weeds much better if they find them in the fields than if 
the weeds are brought to the class-room. The same is true of 
grasses, legumes, and other plants which are not familiar to all the 
members of the class. Frequent outdoor trips for such purposes 
should be made. 

Demonstrations and Exercises. — ^There are so many exercises 
connected with the subject of agronomy that it is best to provide 
laboratory work several times a week for the performing of 




Fig. 19. — Montana high-school students are learniuy t.u ;inalj zu .-^clhI samples fur jjuui , 

(Carl A. Carlson.) 

exercises which will accomplish several things: (1) Familiarize 
the student with methods; (2) demonstrate effects of certain 
treatments, physical or chemical; (3) make the student skilful in 
certain operations. 

If regular laboratory work cannot be planned because of the 
schedules of different students, then it is more important that the 
demonstrations should be made in the class-room, and some exer- 
cises can be performed during the class period by students, either 
individually or in groups, or by the instructor assisted bj^ students. 

A num])er of exercises suitable for laboratory and outdoor use 
in agronomy are enumerated below, and a nuinl^er of these may be 
repeated in connection with each of the crops studied. 

1. Examine seeds for adulterations and impurities. 

2. Test seeds for vitality. (Fig.s. 18 and 19.) 

3. Score grains, corn, seed samples. 



FIELD TRIPS 



79 



4. Identification contests. 

5. Scoring stems of grain in the head; grasses, hay, legumes, and other 
samples. 

6. Drill in rapid selection of seed corn in field. 

7. Drill in storing seed corn by the string ladder method, and other 
methods. 

8. Drill in selecting market grades of corn, fiber crops, and other market- 
able products. 

9. Treat oats and other grain to prevent smut. 

10. Drill in the identification of grass plants and their seeds. 

11. Drill in identification of legumes and their seeds. 

12. Drill in identification of weeds and their seeds. 

13. .Study parts of flowers, using each of the field crops. 




Fig. 



20. — -This agronomy class in a Wisconsin high school is making a careful laboratory 
study of four varieties of potatoes standard in that state. (M. C. Chris tenson.) 



14. Chart the market prices of crops for the year from published market 
quotations. 

15. Study the morphology and composition of the potato tuber. 

16. Harvest seed potatoes by hill-selection method. 

17. Study varieties and groups of potatoes. (Fig. 20.) 

18. Judge potatoes and other root crops. 

19. Compare and judge the important types of tobacco. 

20. Study and score many corn plants. 

21. Study and score representative tjqjes of cotton plants. 

22. Study types and select seed beans, cowpeas, soybeans, and others. 

23. Compare weeds with reference to their length of hfe and places of 
growth (habitat). 

Field Trips. — As already suggested, a number of the foregoing 
exercises may be conducted outdoors. There are numerous other 



80 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



field trips which maj'^ be planned for outdoor study (Fig. 21). 
Take trips to the nearby farms where certain crops are growing, or 
where ground is being prepared, cultivation is going on, or harvest- 
ing is in operation. 

On most of these field trips it is advisable to collect specimens of 
crops, weeds, insects, soils, and seeds. Such collections are merely 
incidental to the main study of the trip. 

Planning a Field Trip. — It is best if possible to begin making 
plans for the field trip several days in advance. Certain prelimi- 
nary studies may then be possible and are usually very beneficial. 




. Iit-se Iowa studeuL 



season. 



Ill the field during the growing 



Besides making preliminary studies through bulletins and books, an 
outline of the studies to be made on the trip should l^e given to the 
members of the class. Suppose that the trip is for the study of 
kafir corn during harvest period (Fig. 22). Some of the points to 
be included in the outline would be as follows: 



Variety of knfir studios. 

Color of seed. 

Relation of weights of grain to stover. 

Methods of cutting crop. 

Method of cutting the corn from the 

stalk. 
Time of the last operation, whether 

before or after curing. 
Injury from sparrows, mice, and other 

enemies. 



Protection and storage of corn. 
Uses and prices. 
Methods of marketing. 
Methods of using the stover. 
Fed whole to stock. 
Run through a cutter before feeding. 
Use as silage with or without water. 
Experience of the grower as to feeding 
value, yield, adaptations. 



If this be the first field trip with this particular crop, certain 
other studies with reference to distances of planting, suitable soils, 



NOTEBOOKS 



81 



seasons of planting, preparation, culture, enemies, etc., may be 
included in the outline. 

During the field trip each student should have his attention con- 
stantly held to the subject of the trip. This can be done by careful 
thought and attention on the part of the instructor. En route to 
the field students should be directed to collect five new kinds of 
legumes, five new grasses, or five new kinds of weeds, and help 
each other name them. This will cause them to make use of the 
time to good advantage. 

In returning from the field let each student enumerate five or 
more points which he learned during the study. This will cause 




Fig. 22. — Oklahoma students have learned that seeds of kafir, as well as seeds of other 
crops, should be selected in the field before the crop is harvested. (H. R. Naylor, EI Reno.) 



him to formulate or review the points which have been brought 
out at the farm. 

While making the study at the farm the outline which has been 
prepared in advance should be taken up in a general way at first 
and then each point in detail answered by each student. Certain 
questions that are to be asked of the owner or manager of the 
farm visited may be asked preferably by the students, but they 
may be asked by the instructor if necessary. With high-school 
students it is well to try to cultivate their power to ask intelli- 
gent questions instead of depending upon the instructor to bring 
out the points. 

Notebooks containing outlines for the trip should be used for 
the answers also. The points entered in the notebook should be 
the permanent property of each student. These should be care- 
fully examined by the instructor or by monitors who are capable 

G 



82 



HOW TO TE^^CH AGRONOMY 



of pointing out the good and weak points in the notes. (See also 
Chapter IV.) 

Subjects for field study should be found in the projects con- 
ducted by students, the crops raised in the neighborhood, and 
special operations in progress at different times. Sonie of the 




Fig. 23. — These Wisconsin .■stuih'nts .■uc iiitercstod in studying oorn smut in the field under 
the guidance of the teacher of agriculture. (S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

topics for trips may be suggested by inquiries from farmers con- 
cerning certain field operations. 

Home Projects in Agronomy. — So much has already been said 
regarding the importance of conducting home projects that no 
arguments in their behalf need be offered here. A suggestive list 
of proj 3cts which may be conducted for ' several weeks, months, or 



HOME PROJECTS IN AGRONOMY 



83 



years at the homes of students may be found of value to instructors 
and students. To make such a hst complete would require en- 
tirely too much space here. Projects related to some of these will 
readily come to the mind of the instructor. 



t4^ 




jSfe 








Fig. 24. 



-Home project field of corn destroyed by army worm. Controlled by poi.s')ii liran 
mash. Below, same field after being protected. (J. A. Wisdom.) 



1. Growing one or several acres of any one of the field crops for a single 
year, including preparation of soil, seeding, culture, protection against diseases 
(Fig. 23), insects (Fig. 24) and other enemies, harvesting the crop, curing, 
storing, marketing and record keeping, including cost accounting and profits. 

2. Grow certain crops under two or more different treatments for the sake 
of demonstrating that certain treatments are better than others, but incident- 
ally gaining" all of the practice and skill (Fig. 25), which would be gained in 
projects outlined above. Some of the different treatments might be with and 
without lime for clover or alfalfa; with and without fertilizer for corn or 
potatoes; with and without certain fertilizer ingredients, as nitrogen or potash 
or phosphate, in the fertilizer mixture for any field crop; with and without 



84 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



ino(;ulatioii for certain Ief2;uim>s, as soybeans, peanuts, cowpcas, velvet beans, 
or alfalfa; with and without drainage for deep-rooted crops, su(!h as sweet 
clover, mammoth clover, alfalfa, sugar beets, or mangels; small grains with 
and without treatment for smut; comparing the proportion of grain grown 
with and without listing; planting wheat on loose or firm seed bed; starting 
tunothy and other grasses with and without the use of the roller; comparing 
the use of a rough roller with a smooth roller; without harrowing when sowing 
small seeds, such as millet, clover, or grasses; growing potatoes with and with- 
out treating the seed to prevent scab diseases. 

3. Long projects may include rotation courses running through two, three, 
or four years. Such projects, however, are not well suited to school work 
because of the long time required. 

4. Improvement projects may include improvement features such as grow- 
ing corn by the ear-row method for the sake 'of increasing the yield; 




Fig. 25.- 



-Growing ten acres of whoat fur i)riifit makes a good home project for MLssouri 
and other wheat states. (J. A. Wisdom.) 



growing potatoes by the hill-row method for the sake of increasing yields; 
growing sweet potatoes, cotton, tobacco, wheat, or other crops that are subject 
to special diseases, and during the groAvth selecting those which are found to 
be resistant to the special disease. 

5. In connection with livestock many agronomy projects may be planned. 
Produce certain crops suitable for pasture with hogs, cattle, sheep, etc. These 
pastures may be either permanent or temporary. Improve old permanent 
pastures by fertilizing, mowing, liming, harrowing, sowing more seed, or any 
combination of these treatments. 

6. Soil maintenance and soil improvement should be included in agronomy 
projects. The production and use of green manures for one or more sea-sons 
to build up poor soils; the regular growth of green manure crops in rotation 
systems to aid in soil maintenance; liming and fertilizing which should accom- 
pany these operations, and all other efforts for soil maintenance and soil 
building. (See Chaj)ter XII.) 

7. Plan soiling systems and grow the crops for use diu'ing the entire season. 
This may be in connection with the feeding of hogs or of dairy cattle. 



AGRONOMY SURVEYS 85 

8. Good winter projects which may be either connected with or independ- 
ent of some of the foregoing projects may consist of the management of the 
barnyard manure crop from a dairy or other barn. Comparisons of methods 
may be made in connection with the project. 

9. Compare different varieties of the same crop with each other in field 
projects. 

10. Compare different methods of curing certain hay crops. With clover 
or other crops which are cut several times, this project may run through an 
entire season, or longer. 

11. Root crops may be stored by different methods after they have been 
produced during a season's project. 

12. Certain crops, such as soybeans and cowpeas, may be compared with 
each other in yield of production and other points. Compare timothy and 
redtop. Compare red clover with alsike clover or with mammoth clover. 

13. In pastures compare certain grasses and legume mixtures with others. 
Consider in this the amount of feed, permanency, palatability, effects on soil, 
influence of cUmate, and any other points. 

14. Grow mangles and sugar beets and compare them in yield, cost of 
production, and feeding value. 

15. Grow corn from seed selected from the crib in comparison with seed 
selected from the field. All methods used during the project should be other- 
wise ahke. 

16. While growing corn in any field project, comparisons may be made to 
demonstrate the effects of seed which is selected from good and from bad lots 
with reference to all of the points in the corn score card: good and bad tips; 
good and bad butts; large and small cobs; pure and mixed seed; long and short 
ears; mixed or uniform kernels on cobs; one or more ears to the stalk, etc. 

17. Grow wheat by early and late planting to study the influence of the 
Hessian fly. 

18. Grow cotton with and without the best methods of combating the 
boll weevil. 

19. Grow flax chiefly for seed and chiefly for fiber, comparing the profits. 

20. Grow small grains with and without sufficient soil cover to prevent 
winter blowing of soil. 

21. Where possible, crops may be grown with and without irrigation to 
compare results in yields, cost, character of product, etc. 

22. Compare results in depth of planting while growing Irish potatoes 
for a season. 

23. Grow Irish potatoes by the level, high-ridging, and slight-ridging 
methods, comparing results. 

24. Transplanting studies may be made in connection with projects that 
require transplanting, such as cabbage, tobacco, and sweet potatoes. If pos- 
sible, compare hand and machine transplanting. 

Agronomy Surveys. — To make complete community surveys of 
the whole field of agronomy would be very troublesome to the 
farmers answering the questions and would consume very much 
time on the part of the students and instructors. It is usually 
better to make surveys on limited topics. Some instructors have 
adopted the plan of using cards about 4 by 6 or 5 by 8 inches, 
which usually may be arranged in order of subjects and in alpha- 
betical order. The questions of the survey are put on these cards 
with room left for the answers. The questions may be put on with 



86 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



the mineograph or the hectogi-aph. The cards are sent home by 
the students and are returned the next day or very soon. The 
answering of the cjuestions on one card will not be tiresome to 
either the student or the farmer. A number of surveys may be 
made along through the term, each one of which is intensive enough 
to give the information desired for class study. 

Unit Subjects for Agronomy Surveys. — Early in the term a list 
of the surveys in agronomy which will likely be wanted may be 
planned and arranged in suitable order. The following list may 
be suggestive: 



Practice in green manuring and use 

of cover crops. 
Methods of plowing and other tillage 

practices. 
Soilage and soiling crops. 
Silage and silage crops. 
Methods of corn production. 
Alfalfa and special legumes. 
The clover group. 
Small gi'ains. 
Pastures and hay crops. 
Weed troubles and noxious weeds. 



Field crop diseases and their control. 
Field crop insects and their control. 
Methods of producing root crops. 
Special fiber crops, as cotton, flax, 

and others. 
Sorghums, kafir, and millet. 
Summer legumes: soybeans, cowpeas, 

and velvet beans. 
Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes. 
Special crops of the region, as sugar 

beets or tobacco. 
Rotation svstems. 



Sample Outline for Small Agronomy Surveys.' — A suggestive 
outhne is here given to be used or modified for any region where the 
survey is desired. These questions may be arranged on a card to 
suit its size and the space necessary for the answers. Suppose we 
are to study the subject of Irish potatoes. The answers to the 
following questions will be very helpful in the study : 



Name of grower. 






Varieties grown. 


Renter or owner. 






Is seed treated before planting? 


Acres of potatoes grown 


last 


year. 


How? 


This year. 






Cost. 


Yield. 






Is field harroAved after planting? 


Cost of soil preparation. 






Times and methods of cultiva- 


Date of planting. 






tion? 


What crop precedes the potatoes? 


Cost of horse and hand labor for 


When is soi plowed? 






tillage. 


Depth of {)l()wing. 






FertiUzers used. 


Number of harrowings. 






Rate. 


Types of harrows used. 






When used? 


Method of planting. 






Cost. 


Distances between rows. 






Treatment for insects. 


Size of pieces. 






Cost. 


Cost of seed per acre. 






Treatment for blight. 


Sources. 






Cost. 



See Survey suggestions, Chapters \T to XII. 



CHARTS ON FIELD CROPS 87 

Rows highly ridged, level, or medium Methods of picking, bagging, and 

when "laid by." crating. 

Hand hoeing or other tillage. Methods of storage. 

Methods of digging. ^P^^\ , • 

rp- Shrinkage durmg storage. 

Rate 
Is field harrowed and gleaned? When marketed. 

Is seed selected at digging time? Prices received. 

How? Cost of harvesting. 

Methods and rules for sorting. What crop follows potatoes? 

Use of Survey Returns. — When the cards containing the answers 
to these or any other agronomy survey are brought back to the 
school, some study will be required to make use of the information 
contained therein. If the number of cards returned rims into the 
hundreds, it may be necessary to tabulate the answers. A small 
table relating to the acres, yields, cost, and profit may be made and 
the information entered in the table independent of other details. 
Another table may be made which will include soil preparation, 
tillage, methods, and harvesting. Still another table may in- 
clude the points related to fertilizers, rotation, etc. 

In case the nmnber of cards returned is very few, not much 
larger than the number of pupils in the class, the work of adjusting 
the information is much easier. No tabulation is then necessary. 
The results regarding each of the points may be put on paper or 
cards. A heading of the subject or the question is written at the 
top of the card, and at the bottom are given the average or con- 
clusions of the whole matter. 

The work of summarizing a survey may be done by members of 
the class, each part being assigned to students working in pairs or 
other small groups. This work may be done during the regular 
study period for that subject. 

The value of the information gleaned from such a survey is very 
evident to students and instructors who have successfully con- 
ducted and digested an agronomy survey. 

Charts on Field Crops. — By referring to Chapter XVI it will be 
seen that suggestions are given regarding the making and use of 
charts in the teaching of agriculture. In the subject of field crops 
a number of special charts should be prepared. One good series of 
charts to be made by the student or by the school would be out- 
lines of the different subjects. Let a chart be made giving a syWsi- 
bus of the study of wheat growing, another on oats, barley, rye, 
millets, common clover, other clovers, small legumes, winter 
legumes, alfalfa, sweet clover, cotton, corn production, corn seed 



88 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

selection, sorghums, sugar beets, mangles, Irish potatoes, sweet 
potatoes, timothy, pasture grasses, other grasses, etc. 

Another good series of charts could be made from small pub- 
lished charts showing the distribution of each of the crops. A 
chart showing comparative yields of field crops would be valuable. 
A composition chart showing the relative composition of each of 
the farm crops as feed crops could be easily made. 

Charts showing the relative production of each of the crops 
locally should be made. Take a single county, for example, and 
from surveys or from a census report show the relative production 
in bars of different length across the chart. 

Make graphs from the results of the local surveys. Some of 
these may show the relative cost of production of different crops. 
Others may show relative dates of planting. Others may show 
yields. Others may show cost of harvesting, or cost of cultivation, 
or cost of any other operation of importance. When these graphs 
are placed on permanent cloth charts, they become very valuable 
for ready reference. 

Charts showing different methods of treatment are easy to de- 
vise. Assign the task to students who have done tabulating or 
otherwise digested the results of local surveys. Suppose, for ex- 
ample, that the hilling of corn, or cotton, or some other crop is to be 
contrasted with level culture of the same crop. If the local survey 
or some one student's trial has shown a contrast in results under 
the two methods, let the matter be worked up into a chart giving 
the results of the two methods in figures, showing them in bars 
or in sectors of circles. 

Methods of growing crops with or without lime, with or without 
inoculation, vnih. or without fertilizers, with or Avithout certain 
special soil treatments, as rolling or extra disking, may be good sub- 
jects for charts. If the crop be a hay crop, relative sizes of stacks 
or of hay shocks may be shown on the chart. Conclusions at the 
bottom of each chart may be expressed in a line or two of well- 
chosen words 

Other good subjects in agronomy for charts to be used in 
schools are composition of corn; structure of grains of wheat, 
barley, oats or rye; types of kernels of corn; types of heads of 
different varieties of wheat; heads of barley; methods of cutting 
potatoes; methods of tillage; typc^s of tillage implements; cross 
sections showing structure of fanning mill, and cross section of 
threshing machine showing sources of waste. 



SKILL IN PLOWING 89 

Alfalfa Chart. — If it be* the desire of the class to make a chart on 
alfalfa growing, the following may be the chief lines of the chart: 

Select rich, well-drained soil. Inoculate naturally or artificially. 

Keep free from weeds and weed seed. Cut frequently at right time. 

Choose pure, strong seed. Cure carefully. 

Sow at proper time. Maintain field properly. 

Use proper amount of seed. Supply plenty of lime. 

Skills in Agronomy.^ — Modern methods of teaching require that 
students become skilful in the chief operations which they are to 
perform in actual field work. Schools are rapidly getting away from 
teaching merely by theory. Practice must go with it. 

Some of the chief operations in field-crop production which re- 
quire skill on the part of the operator are the following: Plowing, 
disking, drilling seeds, sowing seeds broadcast, sowing seeds with 
hand seeders, seed corn selection, cotton seed selection, selection of 
seed wheat, seed oats, seed barley, etc., harvesting, hay making, 
judging maturity, judging condition of soil, judging moisture 
requirements and conditions, estimating yields, judging products 
for market. 

Skill in Plowing. — This can best be taught by actual practice, 
but the student should consider a few things in advance: the ad- 
justment of plows, the depth of plomng condition of soil, season, 
requirements of the crop to be grown next, etc. Let the student 
have practice in plowing under sod soils, as in plowing stubble land 
or green manure crops such as high weeds, rye, and clover. 

Plowing contests may be organized and the work of each student 
judged according to the following points: 

Uniformity of depth. Perfect working of the plow, includ- 

Uniformity of width of furrow slice. ing scouring of the moldboard. 

Complete covering of material turned Rate of plowing and general ap- 

under. pearance. 
Ease and manner of operation. 

These points and any others which may occur to the judges may 
be used in formulating a score card for plowing; Let all of the 
operators have conditions which are similar, or as nearly alike 
as possible. 

Instructors should judge the plowing done by students in their 
home projects. The score card ^vill be useful for this purpose. 

^ See also Chapter IV. 



90 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

Skill in disking is required in preparation of soils. Bad disking 
is often seen where the land is left in ridges, or where the center line 
of the disked strip is left unturned, or where the disk does not 
scour and therefore does not turn the soil well. 

If desired, a score card may be made covering these and other 
points in disking. 

Drilling Seeds. — Skill is required in drilling so that the stand of 
grain or grass or legume will be uniform and leave no vacant strips 
or thinly seeded strips. Too thick seeding is sometimes a fault. The 
chief points to be observed are: Adjustment of the sower; preven- 
tion of clogging by foreign materials in the seed l)ags; careful drill- 
ing to avoid lapping and skipping; laying off a true land by straight 
lines well sighted through the field; Adjustment of depth of shoes, 
hoes, or cUsks; condition of soil at time of drilling; constant and 
uniform supply of seed in boxes; frequent mixing of contents of 
box; quick discovery of failui-e of seed to drop in any of the tubes; 
suitable treatment of soils immediately after drilling. 

Let a score card be made giving proper values to each of these 
points, with proper cuts designated for partial failure in each case. 
Let students study the score card and then practice drilling wdth 
each of the points in mind during the operation. 

Other Methods of Seeding. — ^Certain portions of the score card 
may be revalued for use in scoring other methods of seeding, either 
by hand sowing, wheelbarrow sowing, fiddle sowing, crank sowing, 
or wagon-gate sowing. 

Seed-Com Selection. — Score cards have long been in use for the 
selection of seed coin. These should be used so that the points will 
come to the mind of the operator without consulting the printed 
page. Rapid selection is necessary. Let students take piles of 
corn and sort them into three or four grades. The instructor may 
frequently stop and question the propriety of throwing certain 
ears into the first, second, or third grade. 

Field selection of seed com is even more important to the edu- 
cated student of agriculture (Fig. 26). Make a score card for 
field selection covering the following points in addition to those usu- 
ally included in the score card already referred to: 

Number of ears to the stalk. Size of ear. 

Height of ears on the stalk. Maturity of ear as shown by husks 

Proportion of sterile stalks in the or otherwise. 

vicinity. Freedom from smut and other 

Degree of covering of tips by husks. disease. 

Degree of drooping of ear. Other points. 



FIELD SELECTION OF SEED CORN 91 




Fig. 26. — Students shouM have actual practice in the field selection of seed corn. Upper, 
prepared for the work. Center, making the selection. Lower, corn in form for drying and 

storing. (J. A. Wisdom.) 



92 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



Students should become familiar with this score card by prac- 
ticing field selection and discussing; each of the points for a short 
time. After this, considerable drilling may be advisable so that 
the operator will almost intuitively select the proper ears. 

Field Selecting of Seed Cotton.— (Figs. 27 and 28). The chief 




Fig. 27. — This Alabama student cleared 

$127 on his project with two acres 

of cotton while attending high school. 

(H. A. Savage.) 



Fig. 28. — These South Carolina students realized 

the importance of planting pedigreed cotton-seed. 

Dividing the lot of seed. (L. M. Banknight.) 



points to be considered in selecting seed for cotton in the field be- 
fore picking the main crop are the following : 



Prolificacy, number of bolls to the 
plant. 

Size of bolls, and perfect develop- 
ment. 

Storm resistance or degree of opening 
of bolls. 

Earliness. 

Short internodes. 



Number of side limbs or branches. 
Length of lint, and uniformity of 

length. 
Trueness to variety. 
Large proportion of lint to seed. 
Freedom from wilt, rust, boll-rot or 

other disease. 



Students should practice the field selection of seed cotton with 
the points of this score card clearly in mind. The more practice 
they get in this the more skill they will attain. They should become 
so proficient as not to need to be questioned on the points during 
the operation. 

Field Selection of Seed Wheat. — In wheat breeding it is pos- 
sible to find certain heads of wheat that are superior to others. It 
is practical for a few seed breeders in each county to improve the 
wheat of the region by careful selection of individual heads. The 
yield can thus be increased in quality and quantity. 

In practice it is best for all wheat growers who intend to save 
their own seed wheat to go to those parts of the field where the 



SKILL IN HAY MAKING . 93 

heads are best filled, where the grain is mature, where the ripening 
is even, where the height of stalks is uniformly good ; here cut the 
Train and save it separately for seed purposes. The seed wheat 
may be run through a seed threshing machine before the main crop 
is threshed. 

Where individual heads are to be selected, as in wheat breeding, 
keep the following points in mind: 

Select large, well-filled heads. 

Stalks that are strong and support their heads well. 

Plants that are well tillered or stooled; the larger the number 
of plants to the stalk the better. 

Wheat true to variety. 

Kernels phmip and uniformly mature. 

Disease resistance and plants free from rust and smut. 

In wheat-growing regions it is well to let students practice the 
selection of individual heads until they become skilful in the opera- 
tion. There is practically as great a possibility of improving wheat 
and other small grains by field selection as there is of improving the 
yield of corn by this method. 

Skill in Harvesting. — (Fig. 25.) Running of grain binders, 
corn harvesters, mowers, and performing similar cropping opera- 
tions should be practiced enough by students under instruction 
to make them skilful in all the details. In running a corn binder 
the operator should become skilful enough to avoid troubles 
regarding knives pulling the stubble from the ground, clogging 
of the carrier chains, failure to tie the bundles, failure to throw 
or properly carry the bundles, or unnecessary dulling of knives by 
too low cutting. 

In running a grain binder the operator must be able to make the 
machine work well on both level and hilly ground ; he must quickly 
adjust it to high and low grain if the stand be uneven; he must 
know conditions which will make the apron work well under all 
circumstances; he must carefully adjust the "butter" to suit dif- 
ferent heights of grain; he must be a good judge of maturity of 
grain; he must understand the faults of the knotter; he should 
govern the rate of driving to obtain uniformly even results with 
his machine. 

Skill in Hay Making. — The novice has admiration for the skil- 
ful hay maker. To obtain skill one must give attention to a number 
of points, chief among which are the following : Judging maturity 
of crop to be cut; weather conditions; facilities for curing; time in 



94 



HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 



which the kind of crop may be expected to cure most rapidly; ef- 
fects of dew or showers on the particular crop ; conditions in which 
the crop can best stand these, whether in swath or in shock; best 
conditions for handling to prevent loss of leavers ; special equipment 
required for particular crops or seasons, as hay caps, and drying 
frames; degree of moisture (outside or internal moisture) allowable 
for satisfactory curing in shock, stack, or mow; what to do in case 
of heating; judging degree of heating allowable without injury; 
estimating weight of hay, loose and settled. More will be said 




Fig. 29. — These Louisiana students learn to select seed corn by careful laboratory study. 
(P. L. Guilbeau.) 

regarding skill in operation of machinery under the subject of 
farm mechanics. 

Skill in Judging Products. — A successful farmer cannot be too 
skilful in judging the products of his farm. He should know the 
market requirements and the market grades of his crops. 

Many exercises in judging field-crop products should be con- 
ducted at the school or at homes when products are harvested 
before they are marketed. Use score cards for each of the crops so 
far as they are available. Learn to know the market grades of 
wheat, corn (Figs. 29 and 30), potatoes, oats, barley, rye, clover 
seeds, grass seeds, alfalfa, timothy, clover hay, other kinds of hay, 
and indeed all market crops.^ 

^ See Montgomery's "Productive Farm Crops" and other books giving 
market grades of different products. 



STORAGE OF AGRONOMY MATERIALS 



95 



Practice in judging the leading crops of the region will make 
students skilful in grading the products. For example, if hay is a 
common market crop for the region, it should be judged frequently 
and abundantly. Grading of corn is likely to be an important ex- 
ercise throughout the region where corn is gi'own. Judge cotton 
in regions where cotton is sold. Judge tobacco if that is the im- 
portant crop of the locality. Grading of wheat should be repeated 
over and over until the students are as skilful and rapid as the 
expert. If this be done, there will be less disappointment when 
farmers take their products to market. 

General Equipment. — Use the apparatus from the science de- 
partment so far as it is available for the work in hand. There are 




i- 11.. so. — Having studied the selection oi seed corn, these students have prepared their ten- 
ear samples for a judging contest and show. 

lenses, microscope, chemicals, and a nmnber of other articles of 
equipment in the science departments that will be useful in lessons 
with crops. 

The laboratory where the work in agronomy is to be done should 
be provided with work tables, sink, running water, cases, con- 
tainers for illustrative material, cupboards with glass doors with 
materials that should be conspicuous, and cupboards with wood 
doors for other articles. These should contain drawers and shelves. 

Storage of Agronomy Materials.^ — The laboratoiy should be 
equipped wdth mouse-proof cupboards or a mouse-proof room. This 
is very important for the storage of corn, grain heads, grass heads, 
sorghum, kafir, and other materials which are likely to be at- 
tacked by mice and rats. 

If the mouse-proof cupboard is provided, it should have' some 
drawers lined with zinc, galvanized iron, or with hardware "wire cloth. 

* See also Chapter XV. 



96 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

There should he plenty of room on the sheives for corn trays, 
each containing u sample of ten ears. Enough of these trays should 
be provided for class use. 

A large mouse-proof cupboard can be easily constructed by a 
carpenter if plans are furnished him. If the cupboard is to be built 
stationary in the corner of the laboratory, the corner should first 
be covered with metal or wire cloth. The cupboard can then be 
constructed and lined with the mouse-proof material. After lining, 
the shelves and drawers can be put in, and metal-lined doors should 
be made to fit very snugly. 

If such a cupboard is constructed carefully, it can be made 
nearly air-tight by having molding over the edges of the doors. 
This feature will make the cupboard suitable for fumigation 
with carbon bisulfide or with hydrocyanic acid gas. This provi- 
sion will make it possible to store materials through the warm 
season and destroy grain moths which would otherwise ruin much 
of the collection. 

Arrangement of Room.^ — If the recitation is to be conducted in 
the same room where, laboratory work is performed, it is well to 
have the cupboards containing materials and apparatus along one 
side of the room, perhaps on the side opposite the windows or chief 
source of light. Arrange the work tables along the back half 
of the room, but allow passageways all around them. Suitable 
laboratory seats should be provided around these tables. In the 
front half of the room it is best to have the recitation seats, perhaps 
chairs with side arms; a blackboard and a good demonstration 
table; have sink and running water in it at the front of the room or 
at one side. The demonstration table should be boxed in below 
and contain drawers and compartments for such apparatus as is 
need(Ml for demonstration during th(^ r(H'itation periods. 

A separate laboratory is often jiossible and usually desirable. 
This of course would be found in colleges and perhaps is some normal 
and high schools. If the recitation room be separated from the 
laboratory, it is well to have in the recitation room suitable demon- 
stration material, a suitable table, running water, blackboard, 
illustrative materials on shelves, curtain and stereopticon for illus- 
trative pui-poses, sets of charts and chart holders, and perhaps one 
or two side tables for keeping demonstration exercises before the 
class for several days.^ 

'' See Cliapter XV. 



LABORATORY CONTAINERS AND DISHES 97 

Container for Specimens." — Get large and small galvanized iron 
cans with tops which cover over the can evenly. These should be 
provided for keeping supplies of small grains, corn, grass seeds, 
etc. These cans may be of several sizes; perhaps one-half peck, one 
peck, and two peck will suffice. Smaller cans may be used for soil 
specimens to be used in demonstrations and experiments. When 
used for grains, these cans have the advantage of keeping away 
both mice and grain moths. They are also suitable for use in fumi- 
gating materials infested with insects. 

Large-mouthed bottles with glass stoppers or cork stoppers are 
valuable for keeping grain heads, grass heads, and other specimens 
which are to be shown frequently but not removed from the bottles 
for laboratory purposes. Small vials should be provided for 
seed specimens to be passed around or used by students in 
the laboratory while making comparisons with materials they 
are studying. 

Laboratory containers and dishes are necessary for the study of 
samples of grains and seeds. Each student will need several of 
these and suitable dishes should be provided. Glazed paper bowls 
or trays may be purchased. These are rather durable and may be 
used a number of times. They have the added advantage of being 
inexpensive. Glass Petri dishes are suitable for a number of soils 
experiments but are rather expensive and easily broken. They are 
sometimes used, however, as seed containers on laboratory tables. 
Small tin pie pans and earthen flower saucers are also used by 
some schools. There should be grain-judging trays and corn-judg- 
ing trays. These may be made of wood or metal. 

Trays for small grains may consist of ordinary dining-room trays 
with pint tin cups or glass tumblers for holding the samples. 

Vial trays may be made by boring holes half-way through a 
thick board. These holes are of a size to suit the diameter of the 
vials used. Such trays will facilitate the handling of samples of 
economic seeds, weed seeds, corn products, feed samples, fertilizer 
samples, and others. The size of bottles used in these trays may 
vary considerably from the smallest vials to bottles two inches in 
diameter if desired. These trays should be made in the school shop 
or laboratory. An expansion bit owned by the shop will be useful 
in making such trays. 

Bottle racks may be made by boring holes through small strips 
used as shelves. These are arranged in tiers in racks resembling 

« Sec Chapter XV. 

7 



98 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

large test-tube racks. One form of rack for hokling milk-bottle 
samples is sold by agricultural laboratory siippl}^ houses. Such 
racks have advantages over the trays if the samples are to be on 
exliibition and are not to be handled by the students in laboratory 
exercises. Any long series of samples, as the various products from 
a flour mill, may be well arranged in a wall bottle rack. 

Seed-corn crates, corn dryers., corn trees, and wire stretchers 
for seed corn are all needed. 

Supply small tin cans of various sizes for use in various exer- 
cises with grains. A few cans or pans of standard measures, such 
as the dry quart, half peck, peck, half bushel, and bushel should 
be available for use. 

Small boxes of -uniform size are valuable in handling heads of 
grains as well as threshed samples. Pasteboard boxes of many sizes 
are always useful. Specimens of heads may be sewed to card- 
boards of black or other suitable colors. These are then pasted at 
the corners into the bottoms of the ])oxes. When such specimens are 
kept on exhibition they may l)e sprayed Avith an alcoholic solution 
of corrosive sublimate to keep away pests. The boxes may then 
be covered with glass fastened securely in place with passepar- 
tout binding. 

Agronomy Apparatus. — A few important pieces of agronomy 
apparatus should be found in the high-school laboratory. 

There should be one or more types of corn cleaners, wood or 
metal grain measures, scales for weighing grains and soils, standard 
seed testers (incubator type), or substitutes in the way of sawdust 
or sand boxes. 

Illustrative Supplies in Agronomy. — The laboratory or class- 
room should contain types of corn, small grains, legumes, kafir, 
milo, grasses, weeds, buckwheat, flax, rice, cotton, millets, hemp, 
and other miscellaneous ci'ops. All of these should he represented 
in several forms, as sheaf heads of the tlifferent types, entire 
plants, and as threshed samples. Fiber crops should be represented 
also by the products in different stages of preparation. Root and 
tuber crops may be represented by specimens preserved in two 
per cent formalin solution in glass jars. 

The illustrative materials should include not only perfect 
specimens but also those attacked by insects and diseases. 

Samples of roots of the various crops are often helpful in teach- 
ing methods of tillage and adaptation of the crops to soils. Such 
roots may be preserved in two per cent formalin. 



CONSUMABLE SUPPLIES 99 

The by-products of corn, wheat, oats, flax, cotton, and other 
manufactured articles should be shown. 

There should be samples of any or all of the above crops, show- 
ing ranges in size, yields, abnormalities, effects of fertilizers, and 
effects of inoculation. Standard market grades of the leading 
grains should be available for comparative purposes in teaching 
these standards to students. 

How to show illustrative samples without using too much space 
in the laboratory or class-room is a problem which each instructor 
will wish to solve in his own way. Suggestions regarding the show- 
ing of sheaf heads sewed on cards in the bottom of boxes covered 
with glass have already been given. Threshed samples, cleaned or 
uncleaned, diseased or uninjured, may be shown in bottles held 
in racks or attached by clips which are fastened to heavy pulp board 
hanging on the walls. Such bottle clips or holders may be pur- 
chased from laboratory supply houses. Standard sizes of paste- 
board, e.gi, 22 by 28 inches, should be adopted by each school so 
that all the cards may easily be stored away from the dust when 
not needed. 

Some schools have adopted the plan of attaching the paste- 
boards to wooden frames. They are then properly labeled on the 
edge of the frame and are stored by sliding them into grooves in a 
cabinet made for the purpose. 

Consumable Supplies. — For labeling specimens in laboratory 
work as well as in permanent collections, there should be a supply 
of blank labels. Some of these will need to be on gummed paper. 
Others should be of wood, particularly for germination experiments, 
soil tests, etc. When wood labels are to be kept for some time in 
field experiments, they should be painted with a coat of white lead 
and oil. Labels of this kind written with soft black lead will be 
very durable. Sticks may be made smooth enough to serve such 
a purpose, or wood labels of the kind used in orchard work may 
be fastened to the sticks with soft wire. Metal labels will be useful 
in field experiments. They may be made of very soft tin, as pure 
tin or leaded tin. When very soft, names may be written on them 
with a hard stylus after the metal is tacked to a wooden stick 
or other support. These are somewhat more permanent than 
plain wooden labels. 

In testing seeds and in similar exercises there should be available 
for use a supply of sphagnmn moss, clean sharp sand, sawdust, 
and cloths for use with these materials. 



100 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

There should be a supply of all available fertilizer materials 
which are to be used in mixing exercises. Aside from this there 
should be, of course, fertilizers for consumption in the actual growth 
of plants. 

Spraying materials of all kinds should be available for exercises 
in learning to mix them and also for use in spraying out of doors. 

Provide a supply of the chemicals which may be needed in any 
of the exercises. Formaldehyde for treatment of smut and sulfate 
of iron for sprajdng weeds are examples in this group. 

Plant supplies for laboratory study should be provided in suf- 
ficient quantities. Have standard varieties as well as all local 
varieties of corn, small grains, grasses, legumes, and such other 
crops as arc of importance locally. In some schools it would be 
well to supply for lal^oratory study the leading varieties of cotton 
in l)oll and gin samples of lint and seed. Flax and hemp should 
be available for study in different forins in the states most directly 
interested in the production of these crops. In regions where 
sugar beets or other root crops are of gieat importance supphes 
should l)e provided for laboratory study. 

Sources of Plant Supplies.^ — Samples of grains, grasses, legumes, 
and fiber crops may be obtained from agricultural laboratory sup- 
ply houses, but usually it is much better to procure the local 
varieties at least from the school farm laboratory or trial grounds. 
Many of the samples can be secured from the homes of students 
or from other farms of the neighborhood. In some states the state 
experiment farm provides such materials for use of high schools 
and other schools teaching agriculture. Considerable forethought 
should be exercised in procuring these materials in advance. 
When they are most needed in the laboratorj^ they may not be 
available in the field. Suggestions for preserving these materials 
have already been given. 

Pictures for Use in Teaching.^ — An abundant supply of pic- 
tures mounted on tough book-cover paper, perhaps gray in color, 
should be collected in every school. A suitable size of mounting 
paper for many of the pictures may be such that they can be 
easily filed in a common letter-filing cabinet. Here they may be 
arranged according to subject matter and suitable guide cards may 
be provided. 

Another size which will be found very useful for large pictures 

^ See Chapter- XV and Appendix. 

8 See Chapters XV and XVI, and Appendix. 



MOVING PICTURE FILMS 101 

is 22 by 28 inches. The pictures may be mounted so that the 
cards stand with the longest dimension vertical when in use. Per- 
haps several pictures may be mounted on these mounting sheets. 
The sheets should be made of heavy material, such as stiff card- 
board. If eyelets are placed in the ends of the cards, several cards 
can be quickly hung together in chains from picture moldings or 
from other supports on the wall. The cards, when not in use, may 
be kept flat in shallow drawers made for the purpose. 

Proper lettering should always accompany the mounted 
pictures. In some cases a mere legend under the pictures is suf- 
ficient, but on the large cards it is well to have some leading head- 
lines, as on charts, to emphasize certain points or lessons to be 
learned from the pictures. When this is done the pictures are more 
suitable for use in extension work, such as community meetings, 
farmers' institutes, exhibitions. 

Sources of Pictures for Mounting.^ — Secure pictures of all 
crops, method of production, cultivation, harvesting, storing, 
marketing, combating enemies, etc. These may be cut from 
catalogues, agricultural journals, literature published by machine 
companies, fertilizer companies, seed houses, and manufacturers. 
Photographs may be taken first-hand by students and instructors 
and may be secured by exchange or donations from other schools, 
experiment stations, demonstration agents, special agricultural 
agents of commercial houses, banks and railroads, and others. 
The wide-awake teacher of agriculture will find abundant material 
for illustrative purposes to teach the many lessons that are most 
easily taught by means of pictures. Frequent use of such material 
will prove of great value in class-room instruction. 

An indexing system for pictures may be easily established 
so that when pictm-es are removed from the files they may be 
easily replaced by students or by clerks who become familiar 
with the key system in use. The Dewey decimal system, or 
some modification of it, is perhaps most easily adapted to 
this purpose. ^^ 

Moving Picture Films. — Visuahzing operations are of great 
benefit in teaching methods of various agricultm-al projects. Fihns 
are now being made by a number of eompanies for use in agricul- 
tural instruction. The preparation of fields for planting, cleaning 



9 See Chapter XV and Appendix. 
'" See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



102 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

grain, tillage operations, selecting seed corn, methods of harvesting 
grain crops, hay making, harvesting and marketing potatoes — 
these are all good subjects for agronomy films. '^ 

Local Subjects for Photographs and Lantern Slides.^^ — Eveiy 
school will find it valuable to produce lantern slides of local sub- 
jects. To be able to give the name of the grower of the certain 
crop that is being shown, or certain soil treatments made by a par- 
ticular farmer in the county, will aid materially in the teaching. 
The influence of one farmer over another and the effect of local 
"color" in a set of sUdes is important. 

Take photographs of the effects of certain treatments of soil, 
such as a contrast between liming and no liming with clover; the 
effect of certain fertilizers on crops grown by most farmers in the 
communit}^; the effect of inoculation contrasted with no inoculation. 
If possible, find an opportunity to take photographs where cer- 
tain special treatments are of benefit. When certain farmers 
have made a fine preparation of the soil before sowing a crop, 
photograph that and let other farmers see their good example. 
Take pictures of farmers treating their seed grain to prevent smut; 
the treatment of potatoes for scab; the fanning of grain to cull 
out weed seeds; cutting potatoes; special methods of saving seed 
corn from rats and weevils. 

Making Local Films." — In the field of agricultural instruction 
there is need for fihns illustrating skilful operations. When op- 
portunity offers, agricultural colleges, high schools with depart- 
ments of agriculture, and others should equip themselves, either 
temporarily or otherwise, with film-taking machines. Produce films 
showing processes in preparing soils for crops; adjusting planting 
machines; cleaning grain; cultivators; planting potatoes and corn; 
drilling grain; hand sowing; use of hand seeders; spreading fertil- 
izers; (fitting and raking hay; making shocks; use of hay caps, with 
methods of fastening them on; methods of testing for dryness of hay; 
the waste of leaves; use of hay forks and hay carriers; mowing away 
hay; steps in harvesting grain, including the skill in operation of 
binder; operation of threshing machine with special attention to 
prevention of losses of grain, and thorough threshing. 

When such films are taken they can easily be sold to manufac- 
turers of positive films for at least enough to cover the cost of 
taking and making your own set of positives. 

" See Chapter XVI and Appendix. 



FIELD-CROP WORK 103 

Field Crop Machinery. i-— In teaching the work in field crops 
have available for illustration and for use such small machines 
as seeders, hay forks, pumps, eveners, and hay cutters. Have 
important parts of machines, as planter boxes, sections of disk 
harrows and plows, rolling colters and other colters for plow beams, 
and bundle-tying devices from binders. Have models of silos, 
eveners, and other hitching devices. 

If possible, large entire machines may be kept in suitable places 
at the school. Classes may visit dealers or machines may be brought 
from dealers to the school. On neighboring farms study the oper- 
ation of such machines as manure spreaders, plows, tractors, silage 
cutters, binders, cultivators, and diggers. 

Field-crop work in rural schools should be based largely ujjon 
the practices in the community. These practices may be those of 
the students and of their parents and their neighbors. Try to link 
the instruction closely to the operations themselves. Crops that are 
raised and the neighborhood practices with certain crops should be 
the basis for the work in rural schools. Suit the study to the season. 
For those times of year when seed corn should be selected in the 
fields let the lessons in school be upon that kind of work. In the 
winter when seed testing, grinding of feeds, marketing of products, 
selection of fertilizers, and similar operations are in progress, the 
school should take these for its subject matter. 

In the rural school it is important that the student learn a few 
things well. Those field crops which are grown by all or nearly all 
the farmers of the region should be studied first and the best 
methods learned. Bad processes in the production of these crops 
should be condemned and better methods put in their places. The 
diseases and insects affecting these crops and methods of control- 
ling them should be studied thoroughly. Do not expect students 
in rural schools to learn all there is to be known regarding all crops. 
Leave this to the high-school students or college students. It is 
better to know what to do and how to do it with reference to a 
few leading crops than to study the history, development and other 
nonvocational features regarding the crops. 

Field-Crop Work for Pupils in Town Grades. — There are ele- 
mentary lessons with farm crops which pupils in grades below high 
school may study with profit. Many studies relating to corn, wheat, 
and other common crops may be made from bulletins, from speci- 
mens themselves, from geographies, and from laboratory exercises 

12 See Chapter XV. 



104 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY . 

and field trips. After students have performed laboratory exercises 
in testing seeds, examining for impurities, or treating grain for 
smut, and potatoes for scab, they should base other lessons in their 
school work upon these exercises. If they take trips to nearby 
places to study methods of growing, handling, or selling certain 
crops, they should write up these trips, base arithmetic work upon 
the problems involved, form groups of spelling words, and have 
lessons in drawing and reading on such topics. 

Short Courses with Field Crops. — ^The most important money 
crops of the region should form the basis for study in short coui-ses, 
whether these courses be for a week or two or for a nmnber of weeks. 
If it has been shown by some trials that certain new crops would be 
profitable in the region, these new crops may be considered in short 
courses. Let the instructors be chosen from among those who have 
had the best experience with such crops. They should teach largely 
from practical experience, and should base the lessons on specimens, 
materials, exercises, field trips, and practical work. Teach ex- 
periences rather than merely principles. Have a few night meetings 
and start debates, selecting topics from some of the lists in this 
book (see index). (See also suggestions for short-course work in 
Chapters VI to XII.) 

Things to Discover in Field-Crop Work. — There are a number 
of things which would benefit each student by discovering for 
himself instead of being told directly. He may often learn a lesson 
better by finding out the answer from nature. A number of things 
which the pupil should discover are here suggested: (1) Does the 
soil on my farm need to be inoculated for certain new legumes? 

(2) Should my farm be limed for the growing of clover or alfalfa? 

(3) Should I sow alfalfa in August or in spring? (4) Would there be 
any objection to growing corn on a certain field two years in suc- 
cession? (5) Would it be better to plan a short rotation or a long 
rotation for my farm? (6) What plants should I grow in a mixture 
for a pasture on my farm? (7) On my light soils what crops would 
make the best rotation for pig pastures? 

Field-Crop Discussions.^^ — If students live on farms, they 
should be encouraged to discuss at home topics which have been 
suggested at school. Field crops are always of importance on 
farms. These ■wall be subjects under discussion and new phases re- 
garding thom will not be difficult to introduce. Discuss plans for 
changing the rotation system on the farm. Discuss troubles with 

^^ See topic for debate, Chapter XL 



REFERENCE BOOKS ON FIELD CROPS 105 

certain crops of the preceding season and make plans if possible 
to avoid these troubles. Discuss the advisability of starting some 
of the new crops which have been suggested at school. 

Teachers of agriculture may suggest such topics as these and ask 
for reports by pupils from parents and neighbors as to the trend 
of the discussions. Many topics may be suggested by going over 
the answers to surveys made previously. 

Things to Observe in Field-Crop Work. — Observations on plants 
and crops add much to the training of young people. They should 
be taught to make many observations regarding the field crops on 
their farms. A few points to observe are mentioned here: 

1. Note the kind of weather when pollen of corn is scattering and see that 
the silks of the corn are dry or in condition to receive pollen. 

2. Observe the time required for the germination of any field crop after 
date of planting. Make memoranda of the moisture conditions of the soil 
at the time. 

3. Note how long after blossoming the small grain requires for maturity 
of the crop. This will give a guide to the harvest date after blossoming 
is observed. 

4. Observe how long a field of corn planted for roasting ears remains in 
marketable condition. 

5. How soon after blossoming time of Irish potatoes may the early crop 
be harvested. 

6. Observe the differences in young growth of small grains and learn to 
know how to tell them apart in that stage. 

7. Learn to detect by close observation the first signs in newly planted fields 
of damage from such enemies as cutworms, gophers, blackbirds and crows. 

Things to do in Field-Crop Work. — Doing things well should 
be the aim of all students. Instructors should teach students to do 
the work with field crops as carefully and accurately as they can. 
Teach them in drilling grain to see that the drill is working well and 
that no section fails to do its work. Teach them to skip no place 
between trips of the drill. Teach them in seeding fields with clover, 
alfalfa, or other small seeds to sow half east-and-west and half 
north-and-south, i.e., to cross the field with part of the seeding 
to secure a more even distribution of seed. Teach them to plow 
fields chiefly by back-furrowing rather than by leaving a dead 
furrow in the middle. Teach them how to make moldboards of 
plows scour well. Teach them how to judge the ripeness of hay 
crops and grain crops. Teach them how to cure hay well. Teach 
them how to handle special hay crops without loss of many leaves. 

Reference Books on Field Crops. ^^ — Be sure to have on the 
reference shelves all of the available books relating to field crops 

1'* See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



106 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

in general and also books relating to special crops. The latter will 
be of great value to students in making studies for their home 
project work. There are special books on small grains, others on 
grasses, others on legumes, others on alfalfa, others on potatoes. 
The first volume of Bailey's Cyclopedia of Agriculture will be of 
much use. See if there are any. special crop books especially val- 
uable to your own state. 

Field-Crop Bulletins.^'' — Numerous farmers' bulletins relating 
directly or indirectly to field crops may be obtained free of cost. 
Obtain also many of the division publications from the United 
States Department of Agriculture. 01)tain the special bulletins 
from state agricultural boards of the different states and also 
the many bulletins relating to field crops from the different experi- 
ment stations. First, wiite to all of those in your section of the 
country. After classifying these, obtain others from leading stations 
in other states. Remember that the more special bulletins you can 
obtain the better your students can make their project studies. 

Field-Crop Joumals.^^ — All general farm papers are devoted as 
much to field crops as to any other department of agriculture. 
First, obtain sample copies of those which you think would meet 
the needs of the students in your region. After examining these 
sample copies, subscribe for those which you find best suited to 
the needs in your locality. 

Send for catalogues of all seed houses that are well located for 
your section of the country. Some of these frequently issue price 
lists of field seeds. Have the name of the school placed on mail- 
ing lists to receive such prices regularly. They will be handy for 
use in many problems which arise in project studies and other work 
in vocational agriculture. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make an outline plan for a field trip in the study of one or more of the 
leading crops in your state. 

2. Revise the Hst of unit subjects for survey, given in this chapter, so 
that it will be more suitable for your state. 

3. Make an outline for an agronomy survey on one of the leading crops 
of your state modeled after the potato survey given in this chapter. 

4. M;ike a full sized chart useful in farmers' meetings, or in the class-room, 
using your best ingenuity for originality. 

.5. Conduct one or niore contests with students in teaching skill in plowing, 
disking, drilling, selecting seed corn, etc. 

6. Conduct judging contests with students. 

1* See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



QUESTIONS 107 

7. Obtain catalogues of agronomy materials and make up a list of equip- 
ment, with cost for each item. 

8. Draw a plan of class-room with laboratory tables and equipment in 
the same room. 

9. Collect a number of pictures useful in teaching field crops. Classify 
these pictures and mount them, using the suggestions given. 

10. Make a Hst of five suitable topics for debates concerning field crops. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Make a list of the most important crops in your state, which should be 

included in teaching the subject of field crops to high-school students. 

2. Make a Ust of rather new crops which should be considered at least in 

some sections of the state. What would be the advantage of having 
students understand the details of raising these new crops? 

3. Give a reason why you would prefer to teach the subject of field crops 

before you teach animal husbandry to high-school students. 

4. Tell how to apply the topical method to an assignment and recitation on 

some particular crop. 

5. How would you relate the topics in the class recitation to the project work 

of the students? 

6. Suggest a hst of illustrative material for use in the subject of small grains; 

in the study of corn; in the study of cotton, or tobacco. 

7. Suggest a number of class-room demonstrations to aid in the study of 

sweet potatoes; of, Irish potatoes. 

8. Suggest laboratory exercises suitable to accompany the study of these 

two crops. 

9. Give a list of outdoor exercises in agronomy, increasing, if possible, the 

hst given in this chapter. 

10. Why should a field trip be planned well before it is undertaken? 

11. Why should the students be required to follow such a plan? . 

12. Why should the student make notes of the answers to questions at the 

farm where any crop is being studied? 

13. Make a Hst of twenty-five kinds of home projects for profit in the field 

of agronom}^, suitable for students to pursiie. 

14. Classify twenty-five projects somewhat as they are classified in this chapter. 

15. Mention the chief topics that should be included in a small-unit agronomy 

survey. 

16. How can you make use of the information gained after survey cards are 

filled? How would you have this information summarized? 

17. Suggest subjects for s(>veral new agronomy charts. 

18. Mention a number of topics in agronomy in which students would be re- 

quired to gam skill. 

19. Give the points to be considered in judging a plowing contest. 

20. How could you judge the work of a student in disking? In drilling? 

21. What points should be included in a score card used to judge a contest 

in field selection of com? 

22. Why should cotton seed be selected in the field? 

23. Give points to be observed in field selection of seed wheat. 

24. WTiat sldll can be exercised in harvesting small grains? 

25. Mention a nmnber of agronomy topics in which skill in judging may be used. 

26. Give a list of agronomy materials which may be stored for class use and 

tell how to store them. 

27. Tell how to make a mouse-proof closet. 

28. Mention suitable containers for specimens; for samples of grains and seeds. 

29. Where would you get illustrations for use in teaching agronomy? 



108 HOW TO TEACH AGRONOMY 

30. Give suggestions reg;irdiiig ni(>tlio(ls of showing illustrative samples. 

31. Mention a nvanber of consumable supplies which j'ou would need in teach- 

ing agronomy by laboratory metlK)ds. 

32. Mention a number of sources of pictures useful in teaching agronomy. 

33. How would you arrange and mount such pictures? 

34. Mention suitable subjects for moving picture films in agronomy. 

35. What local scenes would be suitable for photographs and lantern slides? 
3G. What machines would you want for teaching a class the implements used 

in field work? 

37. Suggest suitable field-crop work for pupils in town grades. 

38. Give a list of things to discover in studying agronomy. 

39. How would you start discussions among students and parents in studying 

field crops? 

40. Give a Ust of things to observe in field-crop work. 

41. Mention ten suitable field-crop books to place on the reference shelves. 



CHAPTER VI 

HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

"The specific aim of the work in Animal Husbandry is to enable young 
people to obtain such a knowledge of the characteristics, breeding, feeding, 
care and management, and marketing of the domestic animals commonly 
raised for profit in that region as will prepare them for success in liv^tock 
farming." — Report of Committee on Agriculture of the N. E. A. Commission 
on Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

It is the aim of this chapter to call attention to such special 
methods as will enable instructors to most successfully lead their 
students to a lucid understanding of the subject of animal hus- 
bandry. There are many such methods used by certain schools 
that are not known by others. The suggestions here given may 
lead instructors who are seeking the best methods of teaching 
animal husl^andry to devise and adapt all of these that will suit 
their o^vn local conditions. 

Special Methods in Animal Husbandry. — There is so much val- 
uable material to aid in teaching animal husbandry that we ought 
to lay down this principle at the very outset : "Always have some 
illustrative material available for every lesson. " There may be a 
few occasions for making exceptions to this rule, but the excep- 
tions should be as few as possible. Use animals that are found in 
the neighborhood to illustrate the lessons being taught (Fig. 31). 
Never conclude that animals are to be used for judging purposes 
only. They may be used in showing the location of parts, location 
of diseases, points of unsoundness, studies in animal mechanics, 
heredity in breeding, gaits or action, effects of feeds, effects of 
special treatment or management, treatment of diseases, tests for 
diseases, prevention of diseases, and in other ways. 

Content of Animal Husbandry.^ — In high schools the subject of 
animal husbandry usually includes a study of all the types of farm 
animals, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry. Both the dairy 
and beef types (Fig. 32) of cattle are usually included. If special 
study is given later in the course to daii-ying or to special 
poultry husbandry, these should be in addition to the general 
introductory course. If dairying and poultry husbandry are to 
be repeated later, the small proportion of attention in the general 

1 See N. E. A. Commission on Revision, Agriculture Report, U. S. Bu. 
of Ed. 

109 



110 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



animal husbandry course will not be in vain. Good outlines of 
subject matter in animal husbandry maj^ be found in the textbooks. 
As several of these are usually found in the libraries of most schools, 
it is needless to repeat their tables of contents here. 

The way in which the topics are to be considered should be de- 
cided by the instructor and students after making some local sur- 
veys and carefully studying local conditions. It should never be 
concluded that the consideration of topics should be in the order 
given in any particular textbook. No author of a textbook can ar- 
range the subject matter to suit the local conditions in all parts of 




-Cjiuui 



)i studmla ]ii aiiiiiial liu,^lja,udi.\ btiiii: taught to judge farm horses. (H. N. 
Loomis, Northampton, Mass.) 



the country. The instructor should have such intimate knowledge 
of the local conditions as to be able to decide for himself the topics 
to be considered first. 

Emphasis should be placed on those phases of animal husbandry 
which are of most vital importance to the region. If horse hus- 
bandry is of great importance locally, let that be considered early 
in the course and let special emphasis be given to it. In some re- 
gions mule production might be likewise important. Beef cattle 
should come up for most important consideration in some sections. 
In still other places swine husbandry is the most important. The 
sheep industry is prominent in some regions and not in others. 
Let the instructor and the class decide together what special phases 
of animal husbandry need consideration most. In some cases there 



EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 111 

is an advisory committee, or member, in the community who also 
should be consulted on this point. When season makes any im- 
portant difference, remember to make the topic timely. 

Equipment for Teaching Animal Husbandry. — Schools vary 




]■■;. _ ludtfuitr and M-,,iuii; l>i . I ..illl,- Mud. lit-, liwiild 1m , uiii, tainihai uitli.dl ih. 
brci'do III llie legioii. Study utility tyi)e,s and show types. (,\\ . \ . Longley, Minn., and K. ( >. 

Bolender, Ohio.) 

widely in their equipment for teaching animal husbandry. When 
the school owns only a few animals and these are restricted to 
only a few types, material for instruction must be found in the 
region. Do not omit teaching concretely for lack of sufficient 
illustrative equipment. 



112 HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

In the best-equipped schools the difTerent tj'pes of horses are 
kept for the sake of teaching; stiuk'iits the nature of all of these 
types. These schools are Hkewise etinipped with different breeds 
of beef and dairy cattle, the leading breeds of hogs, several breeds of 
sheep, and a number of varieties of poultry. Buildings of several 
types for the housing of each of these kinds of animals are some- 
times found (see page 121). 

Schools having such superior equipment as this have greater 
responsibihty than others because of the large amount of money 
invested. From such schools more is usually expected in the way 
of practical instruction. On the other hand, instructors in schools 
which have little or almost none of the equipment just mentioned 
for the teaching of animal husbandry should feel the need of obtain- 
ing the use of such equipment in the region. The students may be 
taken to the animals or the animals may be brought to the school. 
They should never allow the absence of such equipment to stand 
in fhe way of practical instruction. Make contrasts with the good 
and the bad as they are found in the region. 

The cost of maintenance of expensive animals owned by the 
school is an important consideration. Many high schools have 
decided not to purchase expensive pure-bred animals because of 
the cost of maintenance. Unless these are to be kept in large 
enough numbers to be good sources of income it is perhaps bad 
management to have them kept at great financial outlay by 
the school. 

In some institutions it is advisable for the school to own pure- 
bred sires for improvement of livestock purposes in the commu- 
nity. The school may be the center of a community breeding circle 
with beef cattle and other types of livestock. In all such cases 
the maintenance of animals should be pi-ovided by the rules of 
the breeding association. The extra instruction which the students 
may get because of the presence of these animals will be a clear 
gain to the school. 

Class Work in Animal Husbandry. — The suggestion has already 
been made that the class work in animal husbandry should be prac- 
tical and concrete by being well illustrated with the use of animals. 
In making lesson assignments individual students should be given 
such topics as will cause them to make; use of animals in presenting 
the topics to the class. Of course they should be required to do 
reading from textbooks, reference books and bulletins in preparing 
their topics. These should be closely associated with the projects 



CLASS WORK IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



113 



which some members of the class are pursuing. A wide range of 
topics closely related to the same general phase of the subject 
may be assigned to different members of the class. Thus studies 
and reports from different angles of vision will be developed. Re- 
member that students will always work better, show greater interest, 
and report with greater enthusiasm if they have been making 
researches which are not assigned to other members of the class. 




J ii, .>.] — In home piojcci woik the student, father, and instructor meet on the farm to 

study the details of the enterprise. Animals should be frequently weighed and records kept. 

(T. G. Brown, Wis., and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 



The attitude of the instructor in this topic method of recitation 
is that of a masterful director. He has to exhibit his skill in wise 
lesson assignments. He will show his knowledge of the literature of 
the subject by concrete references. He must discriminate closely 
between good and poor reports on the various topics by students. 
If, for example, a student gets two breeds of animals confused, or if 
he gets two points of animals mixed, or two blemishes or diseases 
confounded, he should be promptly corrected and other students 
should be called upon to straighten out the difficulty. 

Base the class work on the home project work of students 
enough to keep the interest of the whole class centered on these 
projects (Figs. 33 and 34). 
8 



114 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



Review Work.' — All class work should be frequently reviewed. 
Perhaps a few minutes at the beginning of each recitation should 




Fig. 34. — These students are learning to prepare baby beef for market. The calves in the 

lower view were fed for 110 days as a group project by the animal husbandry class of an 

Iowa high school and gained three pounds and one pound per day, respectively. (Upper, 

S. R. S., U. S. D. A. Lower, R. M. Vifquain.) 



be used to review the main points of the preceding lesson. This 
will aid in bringing to the minds of the students the points which 

2 See Chapter IV. 



ANIMAL HUSBANDRY LABORATORY WORK 



1L5 



the instructor considers most important. It will also fix in the 
minds of all those points which were studied and reported by in- 
dividuals only. The use of review questions written on the black- 
board or given to the class on mimeographed sheets from time to 
time will aid materially in all of these points. 

Animal Husbandry Laboratory Work. — Those schools which 
have some equipment in animal husbandry will find it possible to 



« ♦ 






Fig. 35. — These groups of students from high schools have gone to neighborhood 

farms to study horses of superior quality. The horse owners seem as interested 

as are the boys. (Allen Aldrioh and W. P. Dyer.) 



conduct considerable laboratory work at the school. All the work 
in dairying which is familiar to the instructor may be considered 
as animal husbandry laboratory work (Chapter VII). The feeding 
and care of animals in barns, in feed lots, in hospital stalls, are 
all valuable methods of instruction. 

Judging animals is a common form of laboratory practice 
(Figs. 31 and 35). Examining animals for unsoundness (Fig. 45), 
detecting the age of animals, comparing them in dispositions, 



116 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



temperaments, gaits, conformation, and suitability for certain pur- 
poses, are all good practices for students. 

Many feeding experiments are outlined in two manuals now on 
the market.^ 

Important exercises in feeding should include the mixing of con- 
centrates for dairy cows, for beef cattle, for poultry, for' hogs, or 



Fig. 36. 



Fig. 37. 




Fig. 38. 




Figs. 36-39. — Four methods of feeding pigs in boy.s' projprt work. Fig. 3ti, dry lot with roni 

and slop. Fig. 37, home-made feed hoppers and rape pasture in Tennessee. Fig. 3S, green 

feed supplied in small pen by soiling method, Wisconsin. Fig. 39, grain to supplement 

pasture. (Last three from S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

other animals, using the feeds which are common in the region 
or which are easily available. Dry mashes and scratch feeds for 
poultry should be included (Chapter VIII). Conduct experiments 
in judging hays of the same plants by score cards and ])y compari- 
son. Visit hay mows and stacks and calculate the amounts of hay 
in them. Make comparative studies of straw in stacks and in bales. 
Make trips to silos and study the silage with reference to fineness, 

=« Woll's " Feed Manual and Notebook " and Savage's " Feeds and Feed- 
ing Manual." 



ANIMAL HUSBANDRY LABORATORY WORK 



117 



palatability for animals, keeping qualities, moisture, and feeding- 
value. Make calculations of the amount of silage in silos. Visit feed 
markets and study the different types of feeds, market prices, guar- 
anteed composition of each, and determine which are most econom- 
ical for use with different types of livestock. Make laboratory 
tests for adulteration of concentrates, as in linseed meal, cottonseed 
meal, molasses feeds, poultry and dairy mixtures. Examine feeds 
which are likely to contain large amounts of indigestible materials, 
such as corn-and-cob meal, buckwheat bran, and rice bran. De- 
termine the percentage of hulls in whole oats and in ground 
oats. Visit mills and factories where by-products are prepared for 




Fig. 40. — Hog cholera vaccination demonstration on high school campus, at Sebastopol, 
Calif. The grammar school boys came to witness the demonstration. (H. I. Schnabel.) 

feeding purposes. Study the various by-products while they are 
being prepared for the market. These should include if possible 
the various wheat, oat, and barley products, peanut products, lin- 
seed meal, cottonseed meal, soybean and velvet bean meal, alfalfa 
meal, cocoanut meal, or any others available in the region. It may 
be possible to visit abattoirs or packing plants, and learn the 
methods of preparing blood meal, tankage, meat scraps, and other 
products. In the study of the effects and uses of feeds trips should 
be made to particular farms selected for special purposes, such as: 
the feeds of certain rations in calf raising ; unusual rations being fed 
to dairy cows; the feeding of cows for official tests; stations and sub- 
stations where special feeding experiments are being conducted; 



118 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



the use of soiling crops for dairy cows; the study of special pastures, 
as rape, alfalfa; the use of special rations in fattening hogs, fatten- 
ing steers, feeding market pigs, show animals, and breeding animals. 
Laboratory Work with Horses and Mules. — The study of 
horses and mules will be made more interesting and more valuable 
by a number of exercises and trips (Fig. 35). If mule growing is^ 
important in the region, visit the barns where jacks are kept and 
study the methods used in their care and management, prices for 
service, number of animals bred in a season, tlie percentage of live 




Fig. 41. — Boys docking a lamb by tlio lidt-iion method (E. E. Knudson, 

WyomiiiK.) 

mule colts, and the profits, if any, derived from the keeping of 
jacks. Studies in heredity may be made by comparing the types of 
various jacks and mares with their offspring. 

In regions where valuable stallions are kept, make trips to their 
stables and make similar studies. 

Visit farms where large numbers of \\^ork horses or nmles are 
kept and study methods of handling them,' what rules for teamsters 
are posted in barns or otherwise enforced by managers. What care 
is exercised with work animals when returned from work, and what 
care is given to the harness? What types of animals are used on 



EXERCISES IN SWINE MANAGEMENT 



119 



such large farms, light or heavy? If different farms vary in regard 
to these points, find the reasons for these differences. Visit the 
barns of veterinarians and study animals under treatment for 
various troubles, as fractures of bones, dental troubles, or any com- 
mon or uncommon ailment. Become familiar with the symptoms of 
various troubles and the treatment being administered. If possible, 
have the veterinarian show his sm-gical instruments and explain or 
demonstrate their uses. 

Another good exercise with animals of any kind is to obtain 
specimens of their parts from veterinarians, from farmers, or other 
owners. Hoofs and other parts of horses are obtainable from dead 
animals. Different types of hoofs should be collected for making 
comparative studies. Skulls showing different formations of teeth 




Fig. 42. — Ohio students of sheep management. Practice in trimming feet 
on a farm near the school. (E. O. Bolender.) 

or other characteristics are valuable. Flesh may be removed from 
bones by boiling in dilute caustic potash or lye. 

Post-Mortem Studies. — ^When word is received of the death of 
an animal of any kind, the class should, if possible, visit the place 
and make a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of 
death. Directions for such work may be found in books relating 
to the diseases of farm animals, such as Craig's, Mayo's, and others. 

Exercises in Swine Management. — Students should become 
familiar with the young and old, male and female animals of all the 
breeds of swine available. Visit them wherever they are kept and 
study their comparative sizes, rapidity of growth, size of litters, 
vigor, their prominent markings and other characteristics. Differ- 
ent methods of housing should be compared and criticized. Feeding 
systems and pastures should be studied carefully (Figs. 36-39). 



120 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



Good exercises for students may be the making of hog cots, 
feeding troughs, feeding hoppers, oiUng devices, concrete wal- 
lows, breeding floors, and shelters from intense sun and winter 
blasts. Also they should make breeding racks, pig creeps, and 
watering devices. 

Exercises in the treatment of hogs to prevent cholera (Fig. 40) 
should be repeated several times by the students. Likewise there 
should be practice in the treatment of hogs for lice, worms, and 
other common ailments. Students should practice castration of 
pigs, the correction of ruptures, the removal of tusks of boars, and 
similar common operations. 

It is sometimes good practice for students to prepare a bunch of 



■^"' 


■ 1 « 


pn 




- 1 -^y. 


'« <!#»-i 


#1 -^^: 


*s. 


47^^^^^^ff"l?P 


^^^^iSWB 


^IPi 



Fig 



43. — These Nebraska students, after studying lambs, stopped to have 
their picture taken. 



pigs or other animals for exhibition. Begin a few weeks before 
fair time and give them feeds which will keep them in good con- 
dition and aid their appearance. Wash and brush the skin fre- 
quently and treat the coats with olive oil or other materials. 

Exercises with Sheep. — Many lessons can be learned by taking 
trips to farms where sheep are kept. At lambing time, the special 
management of lambs and ewes to solve the numerous difficulties 
which arise should be studied and compared. What pasture ro- 
tations are practiced to control stomach worms? Compare methods 
of housing in winter and let this study include numbers kept in 
each flock ; methods of feeding ; kinds of racks used ; what farmers 
are most careful in their separating of flocks of animals of different 
grades, as large from small, young from old, males from females, etc. 



COMMUNITY SURVEYS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 121 

Let students practice docking (Fig. 41) washing, shearing, cas- 
trating, dipping, preparing fleeces for market, trimming feet 
(Fig. 42) and similar operations necessarily made by a good sheep 
husbandman (Fig. 43). 

Practical Studies and Exercises with Cattle. — There are many 
ailments of cattle which should be studied in feed lots, or in their 
home barns. Learn to diagnose diseases and administer common 
remedies. Practice testing for tuberculosis, treatment to prevent 
black leg, castration of calves, clipping, washing, and otherwise 
preparing animals for show. Visit packing plants and study the 
methods of inspection used by government officials. Study the 
uses made of different parts of the carcass, the curing and preserv- 
ing of meats of all kinds of animals. 

While visiting the various farms where cattle are kept, investi- 
gate by talking with the owners and by careful observation of 
methods and results, the relation of type to purpose. Decide 
whether dairy type, beef type, or dual-purpose type are best in 
each particular case. Determine what disposal is made of the male 
calves of each type of animals kept in the neighborhood. 

Determine cost of raising calves to the age of use for veal, to 
the age of use for baby beef, and to the age for use as breeding 
animals. The facts for this investigation should be obtained 
through visits to farms where accounts and records of the cost of 
production are kept. 

Animal Husbandry at the School. — In regions where the farms 
are not well supplied with high-grade or pure-bred animals of differ- 
ent types, it may be advisable for the school to own such livestock. 
The school may thus be the center of instruction for the com- 
munity as well as for the pupils. Farmers may be led to study the 
different types of animals and decide to start herds for themselves. 

If work horses are kept at the school, they should be of the best 
type, and preferably they should be brood mares. If they are pure 
bred and the offspring are registered, the school may soon become a 
center for the introduction and distribution of good blood in the 
community. Students and instructors will find opportunity for 
using such animals for judging purposes, for comparison with 
native stock, for study of types and breeds, as well as for lessons in 
care and management, and prevention of diseases. 

Community Surveys in Animal Husbandry.^ — ^An instructor in 

■* Other suggestions for farm surveys are given in Chapters V, and VII 
to XII. 



122 HOW TO TEAC^H ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

animal husbandry should be familiar with the conditions which 
prevail in the region. He should know what pure-bred animals are 
available for study. He should know what conditions for housing 
and care of animals are to be found on the various farms; what feeds 
are being used ; what plans farmers may have for improving their 
herds, etc. 

Community surveys are so easily conducted through the 
students of a school that they should be made frequently. No 
single survey should be extensive. Perhaps one may cover the 
subject of swine husbandry ; another later may be devoted to 
horses; and others to beef cattle, sheep, and poultry. 

A swine survey may be made on a standard card 5x8 inches. 
If the questions are printed, sufficient blank space may be left for 
the answering on the card if both sides of the card are to be used. 
If the questions are to be mimeographed, typewritten, or duplicated 
from handwriting with the hectograph, a larger card or sheet may 
be advisable. 

The question card for the swine survey should include the 
following: 

1. Name. 18. Is meat cured and smoked? 

2. Location from school. 19. Prices. 

3. Size of farm. 20. System of feeding sows with 

4. Acres devoted to swine pasture. Htters. 

5. Acres devoted to yards and build- 21. Annual cost on this farm. 

ings for swine. 22. System of feeding fattening 

6. Buildings. animals. 

7. Cost of buildings. 23. Annual cost on this farm. 

8. Number of pure-bred sows. 24. Treatment for hce. 

9. Name of breed. 25. Treatment for worms. 

10. Number of other brood sows. 26. Treatment for cholera. 

11. Number and name of sire. 27. Other swine troubles on the 

12. Number of pigs raised to wean- farm. 

ing age during the year. 28. Deaths and causes in the past 

13. Are offspring registered? year. 

14. At what ages are surplus animals 29. Kinds of wallows. 

sold for breeding purposes? 30. Pasture crops grown during the 

15. Prices. year. 

16. At what age or weight are surplus 31. Means of supplying mineral 

animals killed and sold for meat? feeds. 

17. Sanitary precautions. 32. Provisions for watering. 

How to Use the Card. — After enough cards have been prepared 
either l)y printing them or otherwise multiplying them, students 
should be instructed regarding the method of answering the ques- 
tions or giving the information desired. Go over the cards and 
show the students how to fill the blanks. Send one card to the 



OTHER ANIMAL HUSBANDRY SURVEYS 123 

home of each farmer with the request that the information be siip- 
phed and the cards returned on a certain day. 

After the cards have been returned, certain students may be 
assigned the task of tabulating the information received from the 
first seven points. Another group of students may be assigned 
another set of points, as from eight to nineteen, inclusive. Let 
another group of students tabulate the results of the information 
obtained regarding the feeding questions twenty to twenty-three. 
Another assignment may include the tabulation and adjustment of 
the information gained regarding the treatment of swine troubles 
of various kinds. 

When all the information has been tabulated by different stu- 
dents, not only the instructor but the students will be rather 
familiar with the actual conditions prevailing in the community 
regarding all the points covered by the survey. They will have 
made comparisons regarding methods, equipment, results, etc. 
Assignments should be made to the class to criticize the methods 
of feeding as reported by certain swine growers. The income and 
profit may be calculated from the results reported, comparisons may 
be made regarding the keeping of graded or pure-bred swine as 
reported on the different cards. The benefits derived from pas- 
turing may be shown if cards are properly filled. 

The results of the survey may be taken as a guide for each of the 
future studies in swine husbandry. In the study of diseases, their 
prevention and treatment, much may be learned from the sm*vey 
cards if the information is fully given. Lessons in marketing may 
be gained from the information on the cards. Calculations may 
be made regarding the profits from killing and cming meats on 
the farm. 

Special inquiries may be made regarding any particular points 
which it is desired to study at the school. These may be given 
special answers if some of the students are conducting swine pro- 
jects of their o^vn, and details regarding conditions in the neighbor- 
hood are likely to add interest and information to the project 
studies. For example, it is well to know the amount of shiinkage 
in weight of carcasses during butchering, that is, comparing Uve 
weights with dressed weights. Some farmers may also be able to 
give information regarding the loss in weights of meat during cm'ing 
in dry salt, in brine, and in smoking. 

Other Animal Husbandry Surveys. — The preceding outline for 
the swine survey may be taken as a guide for conducting surveys 



124 HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

in other lines of animal husbandry. In preparing a set of questions 
for the survey it is well to have meniljers of the class suggest ques- 
tions along the different lines of inquiry. Every effort should be 
made to make the questions very concise, easily answered, and on 
the whole comprehensive. Never attempt to carry on two surveys 
at the same time. One is enough to frighten some of the farmers, 
and they will object to answering many of them at one time. 

Some instructors have found it advisable even to divide the 
information wished regarding one Idnd of farm animal into several 
sets of questions, sent out at different times. Thus the questions 
regarding the numbers and breeds are separated by a week or more 
from those regarding diseases, or those regarding costs of market- 
ing. The simpler the questionnaires the more complete the answers 
are likely to be. 

Supplementary Aids in Teaching Animal Husbandry. — There 
are a number of good animal-husbandry charts which should be 
used in the teaching of the subject. The best are those which 
bring out well the points in the selection of animals. A chart con- 
taining poor pictures of the animals of different breeds is of little 
value in the teaching of the subject. Superior colored pictures can 
be obtained or enlarged photographs may be made or pm-chased. 
These can be used in making charts for use in the schools or they 
may be framed or mounted under glass with passepartout binding. 
Moving picture films of superior animals may be obtained from 
breed registry associations.^ 

There are a number of good stereoscopic views on animal hus- 
bandry which are worth having in the study room or in the labora- 
tory. Oct lists of these and select from them carefully. Lantern 
slides of animal husbandry sul)jects should be made from photo- 
gi-aphs taken in the vicinity if possible.'' If not enough of this kind 
can be secured, others should be purchased to supplement the local 
ones. The best slides are those which show operations and methods 
rather than mere types and breeds. 

Skeletons, plaster casts, and papier-mache models of various 
farm animals or organs of them are available and may be secured 
by schools able to purchase them. Bones, skulls, and jaws of 
animals are sometimes found or obtained from dead animals, and 
should be saved for instruction purposes. Hoofs of horses are 
valuable in showing the structure and uses of parts. 

^ See Chapter XVI and Appendix. 
6 See Chapter XVI. 



ANIMAL HUSBANDRY APPARATUS 



125 



Specimens showing diseased glands or other parts of animals 
may be preserved in formaldehyde solution for ready reference and 




Fig. 44. — In these projects plenty of good clover and grass pasture 

are used to keep the pigs growing well and their mothers in thrifty 

condition. (Upper, from' P. L. Guilbeau, La. Lower from E. H. 

Thompson, Luther, Okla.) 

use in classes and laboratory work. Get these at post-mortem 
examinations. 

Animal Husbandry Apparatus. — Models to show draft may be 



126 HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

made by members of the class if not purchased from supply houses. 
Have measuring tapes, poles, and measuring sticks with slides for 
taking all measurements of animals in judging exercises. 

Have samples of feed boxes, watering devices, oiling apparatus, 
sprayers, instruments for extracting teeth, treating bloat, castra- 
tion, syringes, clinical thermometers, milk-fever outfits, hypodermic 
syringes and needles, and other simple veterinary instruments. 

Each school should have a case containing first-aid outfits and 
common medicines. Have hanging in cases or attached to wall- 
boards such things as the following: Bridle bits of many types; 
head-stalls; dissected collars; dissected saddles; samples of braided 
manes and tails; samples of rope splices and knots; many types of 
curry-combs and brushes, and mane-combs and carders; samples 
of wool and mohair of all types. Have samples of stock feeds in 
glass bottles and jars so they may be ready for use in classes and 
laboratory work. Have ingredients of typical ])alanced rations. 

Sciences Aid in Teaching Animal Husbandry. — The chief 
sciences which aid instructors of animal husbandry are : Chemistry, 
particularly that part which relates to feeds; veterinary science; 
human physiology; zoology, including biology of parasites; the 
principles of physics as relating to draft. 

Animal husbandry in rural schools should be based chiefly on 
practices of the community and animals found in the community. 
Expensive equipment is usually impossible and unnecessary. 
Aminals may be brought to the school without great difficulty. If, 
however, the classes can be taken to farms for studying swine, 
sheep, and other animals, near the end of the school day, they will 
be able to study many features of management and learn methods 
and operations practiced by owners. 

Comparative judging of animals to teach the principles of 
selection may best be done on the home farms of the students 
or neighbors. 

Lessons with Animals in School Grades. — ^Children below high 
school, either in the country or in villages or cities, can be given many 
valuable lessons which will interest them in animal husbandr}^ and 
add greatly to their general intelligence. They can learn to know 
all the breeds of common animals about them. They should also 
know the general differences between types of horses, types of hogs, 
types of sheep, and types of cattle. They can learn to know uses of 
all animal products. Habits of animals should be studied regard- 
ing natural grazing, differences in digestive systems, sets of teeth, 



HOW TO TEACH A LESSON IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 127 

and many other simple lessons largely founded upon common 
knowledge and observation. 

Animal Husbandry Short Courses. — When high schools offer 
courses in animal husbandry they should base these courses upon 
surveys previously made in the region. These surveys should re- 
veal the needs of the community. Let those particular phases which 
^^^ll meet the needs be emphasized strongly. Most other lines of 
livestock work may be omitted. Specialists should be secured who 
can best present the particular phases that are to be emphasized 
during the short course. The topics should be presented by means 
of demonstrations and with the best specimens of animals available 
to illustrate particular points. If, for example, the subject of com- 
mon diseases of animals is being presented, there should be good 
examples of animals showing diseases. The same principle applies 
to all lessons in animal husbandry. Usually the students are 
attending for particular purposes and they should be able to 
secure from the short course all lessons they need to know. 

In college short courses let those who know the needs of the 
state or section be the ones to designate the topics and divisions of 
the subjects that are to form the courses. Omit theories as far as 
possible. Include such principles as will make clear the reasons and 
practices recommended. 

How to Teach a Lesson in Animal Husbandry. — Suppose the 
lesson assigmnent has previously been made on the general topic 
of hog pastures (Fig. 44). The different students may have been 
assigned such special phases of the topic as : Suitable pasture crops 
for early spring; suitable pasture crops for hot summer months; 
suitable pasture crops for fall and early winter; substitutes for 
pastures in winter seasons; hurdle and other fencing for temporary 
hog pastures; watering systems on temporary pastures. Different 
authors should have been cited for each of the assignments made. 
Let certain students be required to have ready to show to the class 
good pictures of the different pasture crops. So far as possible they 
should also be ready to show specimens of the pasture plants of the 
different seasons. Have these specimens fresh rather than dry mounts. 

At the time of the recitation let the topics be taken up in the 
order suggested above. On the blackboard or on large sheets of 
paper let each student draw a series of pasture lots. In these lots 
write the names of the pasture crops for three or more seasons in 
rotation. The members of the class should learn the possibility and 
the problems involved in making a continuous pasturage system for 



128 HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

the growing seasons of the year. To help teach this, the value of 
pasturage for swine should be reviewed and impressed by questions 
from the instructor. Have specimens and pictures of the plants 
shown and let their relative values for pig feeding be discussed by 
members of the class. Special treatments for the management of 
certain kinds of pasture should be developed. Skilful questioning 
may be necessary. Students should be called upon to give 
examples for uses made of the different pasture plants in their 
observations and experiences. 

When the topic of winter substitutes for pastures is up for con- 
sideration the question of how to raise winter litters of pigs on these 
substitutes may be developed. Show specimens of stored root crops, 
alfalfa hay, silage, and other winter substitutes. 

If possible, let this recitation take place out of doors on a pig 
pasture. In that case a blackl)oard exercise may be omitted, as a 
field or lot on the land laboratory or farm will be much better. 

Animal Husbandry Readings. — Let students be induced to 
read reports of animal husbandry conventions, fairs, tests of ani- 
mals, contests of college and school judging teams, and other val- 
uable matter whicli appears from time to time in magazines. 
Assigrmients may be made for the report of animal husbandry news 
and articles of interest from time to time. These reports may be 
made in connection with suitable topics in class recitation, or 
during trips of the class in the community. 

Discoveries in Animal Husbandry. — Students should be aroused 
to the possibilities of learning new ways of doing things or making 
other discoveries along animal husbandry lines. Of course the points 
which they seem to discover may already be known by others. 
The mental action of the student, however, is none the less 
valual)le. Read the discoveries suggested in the poultry chapter. 
Students should discover causes of lameness in animals; causes of 
sickness of any kind; methods of breaking colts; ))etter methods of 
handling animals at various times and cii'cumstances; what bits arc 
best suited for horses under different circumstances; the remedies 
for misfitting harnesses and collars; the bad conditions of various 
animals although not sick; the best management of pigs, lambs, 
colts, and calves when newly born; how to make young animals 
love their keepers. 

Animal Husbandry Discussions.^ — Teach students to discuss 

^ See topi(!s for debate, Chapter XI. 



THINGS TO DO IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 129 

animal husbandry topics at home among each other and among 
their neighbors. Several ways of doing this may be as follows: 

(1) Arouse during class recitation discussions on topics which have two 
sides. (2) When such questions arise during recitations, tell them to think 
about them and discuss them further and bring the question up again at a 
later meeting. (3) Assign definite debates for future recitations; let two 
students be assigned as leaders of two sides of the question, and let them choose 
in turn their members of the class for the debate. (4) Have students ask 
parents regarding their experiences on certain animal husbandry topics about 
which there are differences of opinion. (5) Have parents questioned regarding 
their opinion as to certain animal husbandry practices by farmers in general 
and farmers of the neighborhood. 

For these discussions such topics should be selected as will 
arouse interest in the phases of animal husbandry that should be 
stressed in the region. If pure-bred cattle or improved breeds of 
horses are to be encouraged, such topics may be open for discussion. 
For example, the question of owning pure-bred sires or using scrub 
animals may be started as a neighborhood debate. The practice 
of immunizing hogs against cholera may be started for a neigh- 
borhood discussion. There are many other important topics of 
local interest. 

Observations in Animal Husbandry. — Numerous points for 
observation may be called up by instructors. Or students may 
volunteer their observations in animal husbandry at school. 
Suggest many things which will arouse students to be observing. 
A number of these are here given : 

(1) Which way does a horse move his head in eating grass? (2) Which 
way does a cow move her haad in eating grass? (3) How does a horse get up 
from lying down? (4) How does a cow get up from lying down? (5) What 
effect does dehorning have on the disposition of cattle? (6) What are the 
causes of nervous temperaments in cattle and horses? (7) What are some of 
the causes of balkyness in horses? (8) Are horses that are balky usually stub- 
born in other ways? (9) Are willing horses or lazy horses most often affected 
with cvu'b? (10) Are colts more thrifty when allowed to follow with their work 
mothers or kept in paddocks during work hours? (11) Are heavy sows or 
light ones more successful in raising their litters? (12) Are hogs of bacon type 
or of lard type more successful in raising their litters? (13) Are twin lambs 
less thrifty than others? 

Things to Do in Animal Husbandry. — Correct methods of per- 
forming many operations in animal husbandry should be instilled 
in the minds of students. One of the most important things is for 
them to learn system and regularity in the care of livestock of all 
kinds — regularity in feeding, regularity in watering, regularity in 
turning out to pasture, regularity in returning animals to the barn. 
They should learn properly to tie horses and colts so that they can- 



130 



HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



not hurt themselves at night or other times. They should learn 
qualities of feed by actual practices so that animals will not be un- 
easy for want of feed and will not be injured by overfeeding. Learn 
to fit collars well. Learn to put on harnesses carefully, correctly, 
and rapidly. Learn to make young animals take the first milk after 
they are born. They should learn how to feed calves and not over- 
feed them. They should form habits of sterilizing vessels in which 
young animals are fed. Teach them how to make ewes own their 
lambs, and how to make them act as foster-mothers when they 
have lost their own lambs. Teach them how to treat simple animal 




Fig. 45. 



-Wyoming high-sohool students of animal husbandry 
unsoundness. (E. E. Knudson.) 



liniiifr a liorse for 



diseases. Teach them how to drive and work animals with care to 
get best results. Teach them how to manage young litters of 
pigs to prevent their being crushed. Teach them how to drive 
horses on hard roads without injury to their feet. These suggestions 
are given with the hope that many others will be brought to the 
minds of instructors as they are teaching students to do things. 

Animal Husbandry Practices to Establish Proficiency.— In 
learning to do things in animal husbandry there are a number of 
operations which require proficiency. To secure this much prac- 
tice is sometimes required. Try to train students to become exact 
and rapid in many ways. The following are a few of these oper- 
ations upon which students should practice: 

1. The detection of curb, bone spavin, bog spavin, wind puff, and thorough- 
pin (Fig. 45). 

2. The detection of ring-bones, side-bones, scratches, and unsound hoofs. 

3. The judging of gaits in horses to detect imperfections. 

4. The detection of bad hearing and poor eyesight in animals. 



REFERENCE BOOKS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 131 

5. The judging of age of horses. 

6. The use of score cards of different t>^3es of animals of all kinds until 
students are able to judge without score cards. 

7. Comparing animals in heart-girth, backs and loins, 'heights and widths, 
spring of ribs, length and angle of pasterns, and many other important points. 

8. Comparing hght horses in conformation, heavy horses in conformation, 
beef cattle in conformation. 

9. Selecting good feeders among beef ty^jes of cattle. 

10. Selecting good breeding stock among swine and other classes. 

11. Shearing sheep until the work is made perfect or nearly so. 

12. Treating swine for cholera until no mistakes will be made. 

Things to Solve in Animal Husbandry. — Among the trouble- 
some problems which present themselves to a student, and even to 
experienced men in animal husbandry, the following are but a few 
which come to the mind of a good instructor as the work of the 
course progresses : 

1. When horses go lame, solve the difficulty by finding the cause and 
removing it, and applying jiroper remedies. 

2. When you wish to produce hot-house lambs for market, how can the 
ewes be induced to breed out of season? 

3. When sows eat their pigs, determine the cause, a good remedy, and stop 
the difficulty. 

4. When animals are unthrifty as shown by their general condition and 
by their coats, find a suitable remedy. 

5. When cows lose their yoimg prematurely, determine the cause by 
thorough investigation, and watch for the contagious form of this difficulty. 

6. When sheep lose their wool in large locks, solve the difficulty if possible. 

7. When colts or horses scratch their manes and taOs, find the trouble 
and stop it. 

8. When pigs scratch on posts frequently, solve the trouble and apply 
the remedy. 

9. When sheep have sore feet in winter quarters, find the cause if possible. 

10. Detennine how many pigs can thrive in the beef-feeding lot following 
a given number of steers. 

11. Calculate costs and determine whether it would pay to purchase a 
machine for shearing sheep on your farm. 

12. Solve the problems with balky horses, wind-sucking horses, and 
cribbers. 

Reference Books in Animal Husbandry.^ — Be sure that the 
reference library contains several books on each of the following: 
Swine management, sheep husl)andry, beef cattle, horse husbandry, 
common diseases of farm animals. Special reference books on 
various phases, as the breaking of colts, the marketing of animal 
products, animal breeding, judging, volumes of the pure-bred 
livestock associations, and many others should be upon the shelves 
for ready reference. Get the latest lists from which to select 
reference books before ordering the books. Such lists may be ob- 

" * See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



132 HOW TO TEACH ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 

tained by writing to the States Relations Service, United States 
Department of Agriculture. 

Animal Husbandry Bulletins. — Secure all the available fanners' 
bulletins which relate to any phase of animal husbandry and the 
subject of feeds. Get the many valuable publications of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry at Washington. Obtain all the animal husbandry 
bulletins you can secure from the state experiment stations. Write 
to all of them, or at least to those in your part of the country. Some 
of the stations issue very valuable bulletins on animal husbandry 
topics. Get pubUcations of the various livestock associations. Some 
of these issue popular bulletins of an instructive nature. Besides 
these bulletins, rules for registering animals are issued. 

Animal Husbandry Journals and Catalogues.^ — There are many 
valuable periodicals issued by the different associations and private 
publishers. It is difficult to decide just which one of these to ob- 
tain for the school reading tables. If certain breeds of cattle, 
swine, etc., are of more local interest than others, the periodicals 
relating to these breeds should be considered most important. 
Some journals of a more general nature should also find a place on 
the reading table. 

Frequently send for the new catalogues of breeders of pure-bred 
animals, and try to get the name of the school placed on mailing 
lists of noted breeders, so you will receive sale catalogues when they 
are issued. These will give valuable pedigrees from which students 
can study blood lines. Pictures of noted animals are also obtained 
in this way. Try to keep before the students the best things in ani- 
mal husbandry so that they will form high ideals and strive for the 
best in their future careers. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make a list of the equipment you would want for the school in which 
you were goin^ to teach animal husbandry. 80 far as possible, get prices for 
each of the items in this equipment. 

2. Make a Ust of laboratory exercises which would aid students studying 
feeds and feeding. 

3. Make a list of laboratory exercises for students studying swine 
husbandry. 

4. Draw plans for the construction of a suitable farrowing house, for your 
climate. 

5. Draw plans for a good sheep shed and make a list of material for 
erecting it. 

6. Plan and build a good hay rack for sheep and another for cattle. WTiy 
should they be different? 

7. Plan and build a hog feeding hopper and figure its cost. 

9 See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



QUESTIONS 133 

8. Conduct a community survey in one line of animal husbandry, such as 
you would have your class conduct. 

9. Make one or several animal husbandry charts, which will teach special 
lessons and may be used in class-room or in farmers' meetings. 

10. Make a hst of ways in which the chemistry department, biology 
department, or physics department may correlate their work with 
annual husbandry. 

11. Make a good short-course program for a three-days' course in animal 
husbandry suited to the farmers of your state. 

12. OutUne two or three type lessons on animal husbandry each as fuU 
as the "hog pasture" lesson is outhned in this chapter. 

13. Make a list of ten topics suitable for debate in animal husbandry Unes. 

14. Make a collection of hoofs, jaws, skuUs, teeth, and other parts to aid 
in teaching animal husbandry. 

15. Make a list of the best reference books to be had in each of these 
fields of study: horses, beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep, and swine. 

QUESTIONS 

1. State concisely the specific aim in animal husbandry. 

2. Suggest important special methods in teaching animal husbandry. 

3. Why would you want a full animal husbandry equipment on your farm 

if you were teaching in a normal school or college? 

4. Why would you not want a full animal husbandry equipment on your 

grounds if you were teaching high school agriculture? 

5. How does the equipment of the farms of the region influence the amount 

of equipment you would have at your school? 

6. How would you conduct a laboratory exercise in studying the composition 

of mixed feed? 

7. Mention ten points you would have students observe in examining a horse 

for unsoundness. 

8. Give the advantages of post-mortem examinations in teaching animal 

husbandry. 

9. Give a list of things to make while students are pursuing projects in 

animal husbandry. 

10. Why would you teach docking, washing, shearing, castrating, dipping, 

and preparing fleece for market? 

11. How would you teach each of these? 

12. How would you teach the importance of pure-bred sires in a community? 

13. How would you use livestock of your region in teaching lessons to the class? 

14. Give reasons for an animal husbandry survey. 

15. Mention the most important questions for a typical survey. 

16. How would you obtain answers to these questions? 

17. How would you "digest" the results of a unit survey? 

18. Give a list of unit surveys in animal husbandry. 

19. Give a list of good subjects for local lantern slides in animal husbandry. 

20. What may be the value of special assignments in animal husbandry 

magazines? 

21. Mention a number of discoveries to be made in animal husbandry. 

22. Give good subjects for animal husbandry discussions. 

23. Give good subjects for animal husbandry observations. 

24. Give good subjects for animal husbandry drills. 

25. Give a list of things to solve in animal husbandry. 
References.-^BuUetins on teaching animal husbandry: H. R. Smith, 

Univ. of Neb.; U. S. Office Exp. Sta., Cir. 100; Purdue University Bui. 



CHAPTER VII 
HOW TO TEACH DAIRYING 

The specific aim of the work in dairying is to enable young 
people to obtain such a knowledge of the characteristics, care, 
management, breeding, improvement and sale of the dairy breeds 
of cattle and the handling, manufacture, use and marketing of their 
products as will prepare them for success in special dairy farming. 

The aims in this chapter are (1) to give suggestions on how to 
teach the dairy husbandry side of this subject and (2) to suggest 
how to teach the handling, manufacturing, and marketing side of 
the business. The first of these two aims has been partly met in 
the preceding chapter on the teaching of animal husbandry. A 
numlier of suggestions dealing particularly with dairying are given 
in the present chapter to supplement those suggested in the pre- 
ceding chapter. 

Animal Husbandry Equipment for Teaching Dairying. — In many 
high schools offering vocational dairying and having farms of their 
own, a small dairy herd is kept at the school. When such equip- 
ment is provided the barn for the housing of stock should be of a 
model character so that conditions may be somewhat ideal for the 
production of clean milk. Good stalls, preferably of iron, concrete 
floors, and gutters, good facilities for handling and storing feed 
should be provided. 

The number of cows in the school dairy herd need not be very 
large so far as the teaching value is concei'ned. If the school is pro- 
vided with a herd of dairy cattle certain other (equipment is also 
necessary, such as a silo, pasture, and exercise lot. Some ad- 
ditional machinery may be required, such as a maniu'e spreader, 
wagon for hauling feed and hay, ensilage cutter, market wagon, 
and perhaps tillage implements. The latter will be needed in case 
field crops are raised for the cattle. 

Other Dairy Equipment. — All schools teaching dairying, either 
as a special subject or as a part of the general course in animal 
husbandry, should be well provided with testing equipment. This 
would include one or more centrifugal machines, milk testing 
bottles, cream testing bottles, skim-milk and buttermilk bottles, 
pipettes, acid measurers, a supply of commercial sulfuric acid, milk 
134 



OTHER DAIRY EQUIPMENT 135 

sample bottles, milk weighing scales for weighing milk from the 
herd, cream scales for weighing test samples, preserving tablets, 
milk weighing record sheets, a Nefus tester for testing the accuracy 
of glassware, dividers for reading fat columns, etc. 

In special dairy courses, instruction should be given in the 
bottling of milk and cream, the manufacture of butter, and the 
making of one or more kinds of cheese. Apparatus for bottling 
should include a small multiple bottler, a good aerator and cooler, 
and utensils suitable for handling milk and cream received in the 
laboratory. One or more types of hand separators should be 
available for use in the laboratory. 

For butter making have one or more churns of suitable size to 
accommodate the size of the class and to handle the amount of prod'- 
uct desired. In regions where home butter making is the chief 
form to be taught, churns of suitable size for home use should be 
used even if several are required at the school. Small revolving 
churns of the barrel type, either made of wood or crockery, are 
good for home use. Butter molders, bottles, apparatus for test- 
ing acidity of cream, butter color, salt, parchment paper, sanitary 
cartons, etc., should be provided. Several of these are supplies 
which Avill need to be renewed as used. If large quantities are to 
be made and handled in wholesale quantities, perhaps methods of 
packing in butter boxes and tubs should be taught. Provide butter 
boxes, tubs, and packers for this purpose. Cutters showing how 
boxes and tubs of butter may be cut into pound molds should be 
found in the school equipment. Scales for weighing butter, salt, 
etc., are necessary. 

Vats for handling large amounts of milk and cream may be 
necessary. Cheese vats or large vessels should be ready for use in 
teaching methods of making cheese. If cheddar cheese is to be 
made, presses should be either improvised or purchased. 

The dairy laboratory should be provided with suitable sinks and 
with hot and cold water for the washing of dairy utensils. For this 
work provide brushes of several types. It is desirable that the 
dairy floor be made of concrete and that this floor slope to a floor 
drain at one side or in the center. 

If a number of dairy cows are kept, or if the school maintains a 
neighborhood milk depot or large botthng plant or butter factory 
for farmers of the region, much additional apparatus will be needed. 
In such cases a special dairy expert will be employed and perhaps 
one or more assistants will be needed. Facilities for marketing the 



136 HOW TO TEACH DAIRYING 

products will be included in the additional equipment. Large 
weighing cans and scales for measuring milk or cream supplied by 
farmers of the neighborhood will be necessary. 

Class Work in Dairying. — It may be assumed that in many 
schools the class work may be based upon home projects conducted 
by students of the class. If the home project plan of instruction 
is not possible because students live in l^oarding houses or dormi- 
tories, it may be possible for members of the class to perform group 
work in projects at the school or college. 

In any case, the class instruction should be based upon practice 
work of the students. This practice work should, if possible, be 
conducted at the same time of year as the class instruction is 
given. In some cases, however, the practice work may precede 
the class instruction. 

The lessons in dairying should consist of topics directly con- 
nected with steps in project operations. Examples of the steps in 
such projects are: Judging dairy cattle; selecting a dairy herd; 
selecting a sire; culling a dairy herd; raising dairy calves; develop- 
ing dairy heifers; constructing sanitary barns; controlling diseases 
in herds; problems in feeding; registration and advance registry; 
sale of pure-bred stock; manufacturing of dairy products and 
marketing dairy products. 

A Type Lesson in Dairying. — Suppose that the lesson assign- 
ment at a preceding meeting of the class has been upon the 
subject of culling a dairy herd. Suppose also that the class under- 
stands the methods of testing milk. In the assigmnent of the lesson 
students should be given topics individually or in small groups 
such as: (1) Calculate the butter-fat income from the five poorest 
cows in each of five herds in a certain cow-test association's reports. 

(2) Calculate the income from the five best cows in these same herds. 

(3) Calculate the average income of the best cow in each of all the 
herds in that association. (4) Calculate the average income of the 
lowest cows in all the herds of that association. (5) Compare the 
average income per cow from the highest and lowest producers in 
five of the herds. (6) Compare the incomes of the ten poorest cows 
in the association with the ten best cows in the association. (7) De- 
scribe how cow- testing associations are conducted and financed. 
(8) Figure the cost and profits for the owner of the largest number 
of cows in this association. 

For studying this lesson the class should have enough copies of 
the report of a large cow-test association which has been running 



DAIRY LABORATORY WORK 137 

for one or more years. Such reports may be obtained by writing to 
dairy divisions of state experiment stations. Students in studying 
the lesson may be shown how they can make graphic representa- 
tions of the figures which they have gleaned from special assign- 
ments made. 

At the time of the class recitation, let each group be called upon 
to report. Perhaps the first topic should be number seven above. 
The students who have made graphic representations of their topic 
studies should put them on the blackboard. Have available at 
class time good and poor dairy cows to show to the members of the 
class to illustrate the different types of producers which they have 
been studying. If the cow-{est association is a local one, the very 
cows that are the poorest and the best in the association may be 
brought together for comparison. If cows are not available for use 
at the time of this class recitation, photographs or other pictures of 
them may be exhibited. Careful questioning on the part of the 
instructor will induce all members of the class to fix strongly in their 
minds the value of cow-test association work as means of culling 
of the dairy herds. The methods of weighing and testing milk 
regularly and calculating the income from these results should be 
drilled upon until the instructor is sure that every member of the 
class understands the required conditions for culling dairy herds. 
Several examples of figuring incomes from individual cows may be 
worked out on the blackljoard by members of the class. One or 
more charts which will show clearly to the class the value of 
testing and weighing may be used in this recitation. At the close 
of the recitation, suggestions from members of the class may be 
volunteered for the disposal of poor dairy cows. Are they suitable 
for beef? Is the owner losing money by disposing of these cows at 
prices lower than prices of good dairy cows? (See the type lessons 
in Chapters VIII to XII.) 

Dairy Laboratory Work. — ^If the school is equipped with a pro- 
duction laboratory in dairying, i.e., a dairy herd and barn with 
necessary surroundings, the members of the class should have reg- 
ular practice work with this equipment. There are two good ways 
of managing the labor problem connected with such a dairy barn. 

1. The members of the class may be given definite assignments 
for certain specified days and hours for duty in the dairy barn. 
There they will do at certain hours the milking in their turn, the 
cleaning of cows in their turn, the feeding of animals and handling 
of manure. Other assignments of barn work may be the hauling of 



138 



HOW TO TEACH DAIRYING 



concentrates, fodder, and hay; the care of calves and dry stock; 
the cleaning of the barn lot ; the taking of cows to and from pasture. 
The assignment for each student should be carefully scheduled by 
the instructor, so that no student will have the same kind of work 
for too long a time. All students should l^e allowed to have prac- 
tice in all the kinds of work with the herd. An instructor or fore- 
man should be on hand when students are performing this 
laboratory work so that proper instruction can be given them. 




Fig. 46. — Dairy students making ice cream. (R. S. Mackintosh.) 

Perhaps advanced students in the school in the capacity of moni- 
tors or instructors should be at the barn. 

2. The project plan of conducting the work with the dairy herd 
is used in some schools. First, the herd is divided into small groups 
with certain cows or animals in the group. These groups are let- 
tered and a printed or typewritten list is posted where all students 
may know how the animals are grouped. Each student Avill do all 
the work necessary for the complete care of the animals in his group. 
Suppose he has a group of three milch cows. He will water, feed, 
clean, remove the manure, and milk this group. Another student 
may have a group of calves or dry cattle and completely care for 



INDOOR LABORATORY WORK IN DAIRYING 



139 



them. The length of time which each student does the project 
work with his group should be planned so that the members of the 
class wall have two kinds of projects wdth the herd during the course. 
When a student takes up the project of a former dairy student the 
instructor should remind him that his results will be compared with 
the former operator of that project. Some competitive spirit among 
the members of the class may thus be aroused. Next the work of 
caring for and managing each group is assigned to a particular 
student for a specified length of time. The size of the groups will 




r^i 



1 



Fig. 47. — Dairy students performing individual exercises. (E. A. Wright.) 

l)e governed by the num])er of animals and the number of students 
in the class. 

Indoor Laboratory Work in Dairying. — Suppose the laboratory 
is equipped for several types of work, such as: (1) Separating, 
(2) bottling, (3) ripening of cream, (4) making of butter, (5) 
making of cheese. Let each student or small group of students be 
assigned at different times to the above kinds of laboratory work 
(Figs. 46 and 47). Do not keep the same students on the same 
kind of laboratory work constantly. A rotation system in this or 
any type of work should be established by the instructor. Make 
a clear schedule of the types of work and the students assigned to 
each kind of work. If there are five kinds of work, make five groups 
of students and let them rotate each week or so. For the testing 



140 



HOW 'ro TEACH DAIRYING 



of milk and its products, students may woi-k in uniso!i at the same 
exercise (Figs, 48 and 49). 

In the labor.'itojy Avorlc ctv.v should he exercised by the instruc- 




FiG. 48. — Practicing the testing of milk in tin- l i.iil 

(Carl A. Carlson.) 



county high schoul, Alontana. 



tor to see that each student is dihgent in the performance of prac- 
tice work assigned him. His methods should be closely scrutinized 
and suggestions given frequently for their improvement. Never 




Fig. 49. — Testing milk from tlie home herds in the Alexandria, Minnesota, high school. 

(W. P. Dyer.) 

let the student assume that he is beyond the point of learning 
better methods. Neatness and cleanliness are most important in 
dairy work. Each student must be expected to wash up the appara- 
tus and equipment which he has used. Each student should feel 
that he is to wash and clean up more than his share if possible. 



USING THE COMMUNITY FOR DAIRY TEACHING 141 



The best methods of cleaning should be drilled into the minds of 
all so that none of the equipment will become filthy. 

Using the Community for Dairy Teaching. — In the animal 
husbandry side of dairying the dairy herds of the community can 
be used to good advantage. Classes may be taken to dairy barns, 
where the special structure and equipment may be studied. 

The score cards issued by the United States Dairy Division may 
be used in scoring dairy barns, dairy equipment, and dairy methods. 




Fig. 50. — Dairy cattle scoring and jiulaint;. (;i\c students enough practice witli young 

and old animals of both sexes to make them exact and rapid in the work. (Chas. J. Booth, 

Calif., and E. H. Thompson, Okla.) 

Methods in dairy feeding, maldng and preserving of ensilage, 
structure of silos, the handling of manure, the culling of herds, 
the methods of breeding, the methods of raising calves, and many 
other special problems may be studied on farms of the community. 

In locahties where there are milk depots, milk bottling labora- 
tories, butter factories or cheese factories, these should be visited. 
The equipment and methods should be studied. 

Judging of dairy cattle may be conducted either by taking the 
students to farms where the cattle are found or by having the ani- 
mals brought to the school grounds (Fig. 50). 

The study of diseases of dairy cattle may be made the center of 



142 



HOW TO TEACH DAHIYING 



interest for a number of dairy trips. The instructor can usually ob- 
tain permission from the state veterinarian to take his students out 
to dairy herds for testing the animals for tuberculosis (Fig. 51). In 
states where such permission is not granted local veterinarians who do 
such testing in the region are usually glad to let the dairy class parti- 
cipate in tests of farm herds. The students should understand the 
methods and regulations governing such tests. Methods of inoculating 
to prevent " blackleg" may be taught in one of these ways (Fig. 62). 
A Dairy Survey.^ — Early m the term the students and instructor 
should conduct a community survey relative to dairy husbandry and 








Fig. 51. — Giving at the school the first lesson in testing cattle for tuberculosis. 

dairy practices. This survey may be made the basis for much of the 
community study and the class instruction. The following questions 
are suggested as ones which may be included in the survey card : 



Name. 

Size of farm. 

Size of main dairy barn. 

Number of individual stanchions. 

Number of cows milked. 

Breed, pure or grade. 

Kind of products sold. 

Disposal of male calves. 

Is milk tested regularly? 

Facilities for storing dairy products. 

FacUities for manufacturing products. 

Is the herd considered profitable? 



Location from school. 

Acres devoted to dairy pasture. 

Number of box stalls. 

Other dairy buildings. 

Number of dry stock, including 

calves. 
Kind and size of silo, if any. 
Amount per month. 
Is milk weighed regularly? 
Minunum standards for culhng herd. 
Kind of separator, if any. 
Is herd systematically tested? 



Special Aids in Teaching Dairying. — Charts ^ showing contrasts 

1 See other survey suggestions in Chapters V, VI, and VIII to XII. 

2 See Chapter XVI. 



SPECIAL AIDS IN TEACHING DAIRYING 



143 



in each of the leading points of the dairy score cards are of great 
assistance in teaching students how to interpret the score card. 
Rear views, side views, front views, and top views of both good 
and poor types of animals should be shown on such charts. Con- 
trasts of this kind may be either explained on the chart or by the 
instructor. The school may make charts which may be illustrated 
by cows from dairy journals and by photographs. A chart may 
show the steps in butter making. Another may give the steps 
in cheese making. Another may give the steps in ripening cream 




Fig. 52. — Many agriculture instructors teacH their students how to inoculate to prevent 
"blackleg." (R. V. Morrison.) 

with the starter "process. Another may enumerate the difficulties 
and corresponding remedies in operating hand separators. Another 
may give an outline for studying hand separators. In elementary 
schools, charts showing the pictures of the dairy breeds should 
be available. 

The dairy instructor and members of his class should collect 
pictures of dairying as it is practiced in the community. These 
may be used for comparative instruction, either as photographs or 
as lantern slides. Other lantern slides may be purchased. Most 
of the dairy slides on the market are of an elementary natm-e and 
are useful in classes beginning the subject. 

The laboratory should be supplied with samples of dairy feeds 
of many kinds. These may be used in teaching the nature, appear- 
ance and weights of certain feeds. Many of these contain weed seeds 



144 



H0^^■ TO TEACH DAIRYING 



which may be examined by the use of a microscope or b}^ special 
tests in germination. 

Teaching Dairying in Rural Schools. — ^Among the important 
lessons in dairying for use in elementary rural schools are: Testing 
of milk and cream for butter fat; judging of dairy type of cattle 
on farms near the school ; study of dairy barns and other equipment ; 
the use of silos; the changes in milk due to bacteria and temper- 
ature; the principles of storing milk; the importance of cleanliness 
in milk production. 

Much of the Avork in rural school dairying may be based upon 
the home practices of the students. They should be asked to bring 




•Jtudfiits ,sll..,,l,l sil 



Guernseys. (VV. P. Dyer.) 



projeat herds at faii 



their dairy problems to the school for solution. Let them bring 
the weights of milk from each of the cows for one week. Let samples 
of the milk be taken for testing at the school. Arithmetic problems 
may be formed for calculating the butter fat, the total production, 
and the probable income of the members of each herd. Farmers' 
bulletins may be used in reading lessons. 

These may concern the different breeds of cattle, the various 
dairy practices, and other topics. Spelling, drawing, and compo- 
sition work may ])e based upon dairy practices and dairy lessons. 

Dairying in Town Grades. — ^In those sections of the country 
where dairying is of great importance the families living in villages 
and small cities will be much l)enefited and interested by lessons 
in school. The school work for a week or more at a time may be 



SHORT COURSES IN DAIRYING 145 

largely centered about dairy topics. Children may be taken on 
trips where dairy products are handled and the trips may be written 
up by students afterwards. The manufacturing side of the busi- 
ness will be of more value and interest to such children than the 
production side. Experiments may be conducted in school to 
show the composition of milk, and perhaps the testing of milk and 
cream for butter fat. Charts and pictures should be used to make 
all the lessons as clear and real as conditions will permit. 

Short Courses in Dairying. — ^The needs of the community 
should be well considered when planning a dairy short course. If 
a high school, for example, is planning to give a course for a week 
or so specially devoted to dairying, the shortcomings of the people 
in the community should be taken into consideration and these 
should be eliminated as much as possible. Stress those features 
which the community needs. Of course the financial betterment 
of the dairy interests should be uppermost in the minds of those 
planning the course. For example, if the butter making of the 
region is so poor that the product is sold at a very low price, good 
butter making should be taught at the school. If farmers are 
milking very poor cows and do not understand methods of im- 
proving their herds, these problems should find a place in the short 
course. If a neighborhood butter factory will greatly benefit the 
community, and perhaps is being suggested by a few dairymen, the 
problems of cooperation in dairying may be considered with profit. 

Base the short-course work on actual experience of men in the 
dairy work. Have actual dairy operations in progress for their 
lessons. Have animals there with which to illustrate many of the 
points discussed. Lantern views may be used at night by way of 
entertainment and instruction. Have charts on the walls con- 
stantly before the short-course students so that they will uncon- 
sciously gain many lessons which they might otherwise miss. By 
careful planning, the illustrations and charts can be used to empha- 
size and reiterate the teaching given in laboratory experiments and 
demonstrations. A few field trips to worth-while places may be 
planned with definite aims in view. For example, if the selection 
of herd sires or of dairy cattle is to be taught, the students may 
go with the leader where a number of animals may be used for com- 
paring important features in the problem of selection. 

Most of the principles here stated will apply as well to college 
short courses as to others in dairying. The main difference is in 
the wider range of territory from which the students come. College 
10- 



146 HOW TO TEACH DAIRYING 

short courses are usually longer than others and may include many 
more dairy topics. 

Discoveries in Dairying. — Students in dairy courses should 
always attempt to discover better methods of producing clean milk; 
better ways of keeping the cows clean; better ways of keeping out 
flies; better ways of preventing sickness among dairy calves; 
better ways of marketing dairy products; better methods of feed- 
ing. They should discover what cows are paying least and elimi- 
nate them from the herd. They should discover the best methods 
of maintaining pastures. They should discover the chief causes of 
loss and how to eliminate these causes. 

Dairy Discussions."^ — The skilful teacher can arouse students 
to discuss among each other and at their homes many topics in 
dairying. They may propound topics or questions as if some great 
change were about to take place in the community -and arouse con- 
siderable valuable discussion among the students and farmers. 

Sometimes it is a good plan to have certain students glean from 
the survey cards all the answers to some particular question, as the 
number of pure-bred cows or the number of grade cows. Let the 
students of the school then get from all the dairies of the region the 
quantity of milk being produced daily by each. These may be com- 
pared on the basis of breeds. Grades may be compared with pure 
breds in production. If the subject of individual production of 
cows arouses considerable interest, let the best cows of the neigh- 
borhood be compared with each other from time to time. Do not 
neglect to compare also the poorest cows in the same herds. There 
is no easier way to teach dairying than to keep such discussions 
constantly going. Students will teach each other, and teach their 
parents more than many farmers' institutes could teach them. 

Dairy Observations. — Close observation of important points 
in dairying should be taught to young people. Instructors should 
call for important observations from students. This will show that 
their observations are important enough for notice, and that their 
observations are in harmony with those of experienced dairymen 
or are contrary to good authorities. A few such features of ob- 
servation are here suggested: (1) The influence of dirty cattle and 
dirty barns on the keeping of milk. (2) The influence of breed and 
of individual type on quantity of milk and richness of milk. (3) 
The influence of breed on the weight of calves at birth. (4) The 
effect of silage on maintaining winter flow of milk. (5) The effect 

^ See topics for debate, Chapter XI. 



THINGS TO SOLVE IN DAIRYING 147 

of good housing on the winter flow of milk. (6) The effects of too 
strong or too weak acid in the testing of dairy products. (7) The 
effect of temperature in the separation of cream. (8) The effect 
of feeds on the color of butter and cream. 

Things to Do in Dairying. — Students should form good habits 
of doing things right in their dairy operations. Careful habits mean 
much in the production of high-class dairy products. Good profits 
are sure to come to those who form the best dairy habits when they 
are learning the business. Learn to clean the cows always before 
milking. Learn to have clean hands during the milking operation. 
Learn to wash the hands before milking the next cow. Learn to 
milk in pails with small mouths to prevent dirt from falling into the 
milk. Learn to handle milk stools without getting your hands 
dirty. Learn to handle the best kinds of milk strainers and habit- 
ually change them frequently. Learn to have the air and floor of the 
barn always clean at milldng time. Learn all the ways of keeping 
down flies so that none will ever reach the milk. Learn to cool 
milk by simple methods to reduce the multiplication of bacteria. 
Learn to put up ice and store it for winter use if possible. Learn to 
make the very best butter and cheese. Learn to wash dairy uten- 
sils so they will not become gummy. Learn to use clean garments 
in handling dairy products. Learn to pack or otherwise prepare the 
most attractive dairy products for market. Learn to test your cows 
for tuberculosis. Learn to detect animals with garget, bloody 
milk, and other affections. 

Things to Solve in Dairying. — Problems for solution often pre- 
sent themselves to the student and to the dairyman. A few of 
these problems are here suggested: 

1. When dairy cows fail to chew their cud, determine if possible what 
has been the cause. See if the rumen is packed and determine the best means 
of reheving the difficulty. 

2. When you know that your dairy herd is not paying enough profit, 
find what course to pursue in order to increase the profits, i.e., to practice 
better feeding or to get a better sire or to dispose of the poorest producing cows. 

3. If the heifers of your herd produce less than their mothers, how 
can you reverse the game and raise heifers that produce more than 
their mothers? 

4. When you are losing calves by pi'emature birth, solve the cause if 
possible and prevent the terrible loss. 

5. When your neighbors are getting more for their dairy products than 
you are, find the real reasons for the difference and apply the remedies to 
your business. 

6. When milk depots are cutting prices or holding them below cost of 
production, solve if possible the best way of inducing them to pay living 
prices to yourself and other dairymen. 



148 HOW TO TEACH DAIRYING 

7. When dairymen fail to cooperate with each other, solve the causes 
of failure and try to estabhsh methods of successful cooperation. 

8. When cooperative creameries or cheese factories or milk depots fail 
to yield satisfactoiy profits to the members, try to find the causes of failure, 
as careless operators, dishonesty among managers, treachery started by com- 
petitors, and poor business methods. 

9. When separators fail to give satisfactory results, examine conditions 
closely and solve the trouble if possible. 

10. When prices of feed soar upward, try to solve the problems of economic 
feeding of cattle by production of clovers, alfalfa, and other feeds rich 
in protein. 

Dairy Readings. — The literature of the dairy world is rich in 
vahiablo matter. Students should be induced to read reports of 
dairy shows, dairy conventions, papers on special dairy topics, 
new dairy bulletins, dairy columns in agricultural journals, dis- 
cussions in special dairy magazines. Have students take certain 
articles home to be read to the family. Have thein read special 
assignments for report to the dairy class for debate in special exer- 
cises, for discussions at farmers' meetings, and for use in their 
project operations. 

Dairy Reference Library ."^ — The shelves of the school libraiy 
should be provided with many of the valuable books on dairy 
cattle, methods of feeding dairy stock, and on the different phases 
of manufacture and sale of dairy products. Some of these relate to 
the organization and management of dairy associations. Obtain 
a complete up-to-date list of such books by writing to the States 
Relations Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
Select the best books from this list unless the school can afford to 
purchase all of them. 

Dairy Bulletins. — The phases of dairying are briefly covered 
by special dairy bulletins issued by the United States Dairy Divi- 
sion and Farmers' Bulletin series. Many of the state experiment 
stations issue good bulletins on this subject which should be ob- 
tained so far as they are available. Arrange these bulletins for 
handy use as suggested in another chapter.^ Much of the reference 
work on dairy projects may be to these bulletins. 

Dairy Joumals."^ — Obtain a complete list of the best agricul- 
tural paj^ers of the country that have good dairy departments, in- 
cluding the special dairy markets. Obtain sample copies of all 
of these and then subscribe for the ones which will best meet the 
needs of the school^ 

^ See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 

6 See Chapter XVII. 

^ See Chapter XVII and Appendix. 



QUESTIONS 149 

EXERCISES 

1. Outline two or three typical lessons in dairying, on other phases than 
the sample given in this chapter. 

2. Make a long Ust of laboratory exercises in dairying, which would make 
the course more real and practical. 

3. From your observation, or experience, make a Ust of dairy exercises 
which could be conducted in the coimBunity, for the benefit of your class. 

4. Conduct a brief daiiy survey, of a small region, for practice. 

5. Make a hst of dairy pictures which you would collect and mount for 
use in this course. 

6. Collect one set of these pictures and moimt them. 

7. Make a chart to teach the importance of clean milk production. 

8. Make a score card for examining and judging a cream separator. 

9. Another for a churn. 

10. Make a program for a short course in dairying, working in as many 
practical exercises and demonstrations as would be suitable. 

11. Make a list of ten, or more, topics for debate on dairy subjects. 

12. Make a list of the processes and methods used, and give the steps in 
these, for preparing dairy animals for shows (Fig. 53). 

QUESTIONS 

1. State the specific aim of the dairy course. 

2. Give a rather full list of the dairy equipment. 

3. Give your ideas of the kind of work to be done by the dairy class. 

4. Review and criticize a typical lesson in dairying. 

5. Describe how students may obtain dairy herd practice: (1) when the 

school is equipped with a herd; (2) when the school has no herd. 

6. Mention the chief lines of indoor laboratory work in dairying. 

7. Describe an exercise in dairy judging with score cards. 

8. Describe exercises to teach students dairy feeding. 

9. Describe a trip to visit and study a milk depot, or factory. 

10. Describe a trip to test a dairy herd for tuberculosis. 

11. Give the points to be included in a dairy survey. 

12. What use would you make of such a survey? 

13. Give a Ust of local dairy subjects suitable for lantern sUdes. 

14. How would you use a collection of dairy feeds in your class? 

15. Give suggestions for teaching dairying in rural schools; in town grades. 

16. What courses in agriculture are of most importance to the teacher of 

dairying? 

17. Make a list of discoveries to be made in dairying. 

18. How would you start dairy discussions among your students and their 

famiUes? 

19. Make a Ust of dairy observations to be made. 

20. Give a Ust of problems to be solved in dairying. 



CHAPTER VIII 
HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

"The specific aim of the work in poultry is to enable young people to obtain 
such a knowledge of the characteristics, breeding, feeding, care, and manage- 
ment and marketing of farm poultry as will prepare them for successful poultry 
raising." — Report of Committee on Agriculture of the N. E. A. Commission 
on Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

The aim of the present chapter is to congider such special 
methods as will aid instructors successfully to lead their students to 
a clear understanding of the subject of poultry husbandry. Special 
methods are here suggested. These have been thoroughly tried by 
one or more schools where the subject is taught. Instructors of 
poultry husbandry who are seeking the best methods of teaching the 
subject Avill be able to follow many of the suggestions given, and to 
devise and adapt them to suit the local conditions of any school. 

Special Methods in Poultry Husbandry .^ — This subject is so 
popular and the cost of materials is so slight that no school should 
attempt to teach it without basing the instruction upon practice 
work. A number of the special methods to be more fully considered 
in this chapter will include such exercises as class demonstrations in 
culling fowls, judging fowls by standards of perfection, selection of 
breeding stock, mating pens, and examining for diseases and ene- 
mies. There must be exercises in the operation of incubators, 
brooders, management in natm-al incubation, natural breeding, 
exercises in caponizing, treatment of diseases, feeding, killing, 
dressing, and packing. Include exercises in sorting and packing 
eggs, preservation of eggs, and their shipment for hatching pur- 
poses. There should be work in the making of sprouting trays, 
feed hoppers, water fountains, trap nests, broody coops, brooders, 
and movable poultry houses. Do not fail to include such exercises 
as cleaning and disinfecting of dropping boards, whitewashing and 
spraying the interiors of houses, and cleaning and disinfecting 
broodei's and incubators. 

Content of Poultry Husbandry. — In most vocational high 
S(;hools and other high schools, the poultry coiu'se should usually 
be made up largely of the study and management of chickens. 
However, in some instances the course may be made to include a 
study of other kinds of poultry, such as ducks and geese, the raising 
150 



CONTENT OF POULTRY HUSBANDRY 



151 



of turkeys (Fig. 54), the care and management of pigeons. Per- 
haps other departments of poultry husbandry may occasionally 
be included, particularly if there are examples of the work in the 
community. In a survey recently made of five hundred farms in 
northeastern Missouri it was found that most of the farms in- 
cluded only chickens and did not include other kinds of poultry. 
A very small percentage raised turkeys and even smaller percent- 
ages raised ducks and geese. 

Just what to include in the course should be determined by 
local surveys made through the students. These surveys should 




Fig. 54. — The growing of turkeys may be a profitable home project for either boys or girls. 

(H. A. Savage.) 

also reveal to the instructor the most important topics of the sub- 
ject to be stressed in a particular neighborhood. The instructor 
should then exercise good judgment in regard to the amount of 
time to be devoted to each part of the subject matter in the course. 
The order in which the subject should be studied should usually 
agree with the season of the year. For example, if the course is 
given in the last half of the school year, some study should be made 
first of winter housing and the whole question of types of houses 
can be considered early in the course. This should be followed with 
lessons in incubation and brooding as the season progresses. Suit 
the topic to the time of year as nearly as possible. 

If the course is to be offered in the fall, the possibility of making 
the topics seasonal is much more difficult. If the course opens in 
September, the study might well begin with small parasites, such as 



152 



HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 



lice, mites, and others. Disinfecting of (quarters should be considered 
early in the course. Culling of the young stock, preparation of 
wnnter quarters, breaking the fowls to habits of roosting in their 
winter quarters, and the installation of winter methods of feeding 
will all come along rapidly as the season advances. 

It is readily understood by the instructor that the author of a 
textbook on poultry husbandry would not be able to arrange the 
subjects in the course or a chapter in the book to suit the season. 
It is therefore necessary that the instructor use emphatic decision 
in regard to the choice of subject matter and the arrangement of 
the course so that the work of the students will be timely and so 
that it can be well illustrated l)y practice in poultry yards. If the 
poultry textbook should be foUoAved in order from cover to cover. 




sperting tl 

number. Remodeling a hen house near 
Lamar, Ark. (M. R. Ensign.) 



tmlonts of poultry 
-!■ for their school. 
Dyer.) 



much of the teaching would necessarily be abstract, out of season, 
and merely theoretical. Students would not retain the lessons and 
the teaching would not be vocational. 

Equipment for Teaching Poultry Husbandry. — Every school 
should, if possible, own at least a small equipment for the teaching 
of poultry husbandry. An equipment of fowls and houses is a val- 
uable asset in the teaching of this subject. In some cases it may be 
found advisable to use a neighboring flock for practice and illus- 
tration instead of having a flock owned by the school. In voca- 
tional schools where the instructoi- is employed for the entire year 
the school should, if possible, provide itself with a flock of fowls and 
equipment for the housing and management of the same. 

The number of fowls kept by the school may be a hundred or 
less, and the number of houses should be such as to group these 
fowls into small lots of twenty or so. Each lot may be assigned to a 



CLASS WORK IN POULTRY HUSBANDRY 153 

group of students for daily care and management. The houses for 
this purpose should in most instances be movable, and may be used 
to illustrate the movable, or colony type of house (Figs. 55-57). 
The interior equipment of each house should be as complete as 
possible, including sanitary nests, roosts over a dropping board, a 
dry mash hopper, a water fountain on an elevated platform, per- 
haps a broody coop in one corner, receptacles for grit, charcoal, 
and dust. There should be yards for fencing different lots of 
poultry separate from each other, and enough area to allow for 
some rotation and movement of houses. 

In some convenient place there should be a room suited to the 




Fig. 57. — Poultry students may build the school brooder houses. (H. N. Loomis.) 

running of incubators (Fig. 58), and several machines should be 
provided so that students may operate these either singly or in 
groups. Either a large brooder house of the shed type with several 
compartments may be provided or there should be a number of 
small brooder houses. 

In selecting the poultry equipment, the plan of the instructor 
should be to provide for practice of students, either in small groups 
or separately, in all phases of poultry keeping. If suitable poultry 
practice is thus provided at the school, the student is able to learn 
the minute details of poultry husbandry much better than if his 
practice consists of home project work only. 

Class Work in Poultry Husbandry.— In the field of poultry 
husbandry large opportunity is given for instruction by the topical 
method. Let students be assigned special topics to report to the 



154 



HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 



class. The assignments should be definite and reference to texts, 
library books, and bulletins should be made. 

Let the daily recitations correspond as closely as possible with 
the practice work which is being pm'sued. The class work should 




Fig. 



58. — StU(jL'Ht.s learning to oper.ite inc-uhators in the school basement. 
The lower brooder was made by a student. 



usually precede the laboratory work. For example, it is better to 
study regarding the operation of incubators before actually be- 
ginning their operation. Study the mixing of dry mash before act- 
ually mixing it. Study how to fight lice before actually fighting 
them. In all cases, link the two parts of the work as closely to- 



LABORATORY WORK IN POULTRY HUSBANDRY 155 

gether as possible. There are many bulletins issued by the United 
States Department of Agricultiu'e and by state experiment sta- 
tions which will be helpful in conducting the class work. A single 
bulletin may sometimes be divided among several students. 

There will be no lack of interest in the class work in poultry 
husbandry, provided the instructor is careful to question students 
regarding their difficulties in the practice work. Methods of oper- 
ation should constitute a large part of the class discussion. A sub- 
ject so full of detail as poultry husbandry will make the class work 
full of discussion of methods, management, and operation. Try- 
ing conditions are always presenting themselves and students 
should be encouraged to bring their experiences, difficulties, and 
problems to the class for solution. (Fig. 58.) 

Review Work. — Pick up the details of the class work and 
laboratory work by having frequent reviews. For the purpose of 
testing the thoroughness of the preparation of the students use 
questions at the close of different chapters in some good textbooks. 
Many points which might otherwise escape the attention of 
students will thus be brought out, and doubtless many errors will 
be prevented. 

The topical method which has been suggested for conducting a 
recitation in poultry husbandry requires more attention to review 
work than in any other method of recitation. If all students are 
required to pursue the review questions and bring up the "odds 
and ends," the class work will be made more thorough and stu- 
dents will feel that they are masters of the subject matter. 

Laboratory Work in Poultry Husbandry. — Suggestions have 
already been made regarding certain laboratory work which should 
be done. By the term laboratory, we mean in this case, at least, 
outdoor as well as indoor work. Several of the lines of laboratory 
work may be either out of doors or in the laboratory. Selection 
of the foundation stock rnay be conducted either in the poultry 
house or by the use of coops in the school building. This is also 
true of all such exercises as the following : The selection of breed- 
ing cockerels, selection of hens for hatching, judging of standard- 
bred poultry by the score card, the operation of caponizing, 
preparing dressed poultry for market, dressing and trussing exer- 
cises, grading and packing market poultry, candling and grading 
market eggs, diagnosing poultry diseases, and the study of market 
types of live poultry. 

There are a nmnber of poultry laboratory exercises which are 



156 HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

best suited for work in the laboratory or other inside room: The 
identification of feed stuffs, study of ready mixed rations, studj'^ 
of construction and operation of incul^ators, study of construction 
and operation of brooders, the home preservation of eggs by water 
glass, planning and use of poultry records and accounts, exercises in 
preparing poultry for exhibition, studjdng and compounding poultry 
medicines, anatomical study of the fowl, the development of the 
chick embryo, and the study of the reproduction system of the hen. 

There are certain types of poultry laboratory work which should 
be conducted either out of doors or in some shed or other sheltered 
quarter. Among these may be mentioned the construction of 
brooder houses, the building of movable poultry houses, making 
such articles of equipment as hoppers, nests, trap nests, broody 
coops, water fountains, hen coops, exhibition crates, shipping 
crates, and others. » 

Such exercises in sanitation as spraying of poultry houses for 
lice and mites; whitewashing; cleaning of nests and dropping 
boards; the painting of roosts with oil; treatment of fowls for scaly 
leg, lice and other troubles will naturally be performed in the 
places most convenient for such work. Students should have 
practice in all of them if possible.^ 

Poultry Trips. — The poultry plants or farm poultry flocks in the 
vicinity of the school should be used by the class in poultry hus- 
bandry. When the care of young stock is up for consideration, 
visit the farms of good poultry keepers and study their methods 
in this regard. Trips to successful poultry farms should l)e made 
to study the plans of building, layout of yards, and methods of 
care and management. It is often possible to ascertain the expenses 
and revenues of good poultry keepers. 

It is well to make trips with poultry students to wholesale and 
retail poultiy and egg markets. There the student should become 
familiar with methods of distribution of poultry products. Learn 
as much as possible about the commission business, the retail 
business, methods of packing, conditions in which products are 
received, and how they are shown to customers. 

If possil^le, visit cold storage plants where poultry products are 
stored. Learn the methods of storing various kinds of poultry 
products and temperatures at which they are kept. Also deter- 
mine the rates, storage periods, shrinkage, insurance, and cold 
storage regulations. 

^ See Lewis' " Poultry Laboratory Mamial and Notebook." 



DETAILS OF THE OUTLINE 



157 



If there are poultry-packing and egg-packing establishments 
within easy distance, the students should be allowed to study the 
methods carefully. This study should include such points as the 
feeding period preceding slaughter, methods of killing, rough picking, 
clean picking, methods of checking, and prices paid for this work. 
Study methods of plumping, cooling, grading, packing, and shipping. 

Outline for Study on Poultry Trips.^ — When students are 
planning a trip to inspect neighboring poultry plants for instruc- 
tion purposes, a suitable outline for study should be made in 
advance. This should include all the phases of study which the 
trip is intended to cover. Be sure to include all of the special 
methods and practices which the instructor may know are carried 
on at the poultry plant to be visited. A suggestive outline is here 
presented. This, however, should be modified for each trip and 
should be adapted to the conditions in any particular locality. 
The outhne may be taken down in a notebook by each student, or 
furnished by duplicating, and each should be expected to use it 
during the study of the plant visited. 

Details of the Outline.- — Include the following points and any 
others desired: 



1. Name of plant. 

2. Distance from shipping point or 

market. 

3. Ivinds of products produced for 

market. 

4. Methods of selling. 

5. Prices received for different 

products. 

6. Breed of poultry kept. 

7. Number of mature stock. 

8. Number of young stock. 

9. Methods of hatching. 

10. Methods of brooding. 

11. Methods of feeding. Dry mash, 

wet mash, scratch feeds. 

12. Methods of housing. .Nmnber of 

houses, size, amount of glass 
ventilation, etc. 

13. Is trap nesting practiced? 

14. Methods of culUng mature stock. 

Young stock. 

15. Yarding systems. 

16. Litter and scratch systems. 

17. Ivinds of fountains. 

18. Notes on broiler production. 

19. Preparation of broilers for 

market. 



20. Notes on egg production. 

21. Preparation of eggs for market. 

22. Notes on roaster or capon produc- 

tion. 

23. Preparation of these for market. 

24. Amount of labor required. 

25. Cost of labor. 

26. Labor-saving devices. 

27. Ease of watering. 

28. Ease of cleaning. 

29. Sanitary methods. 

30. Amount of loss from sickness or 

death. 

31. Are quarantine coops kept? 

32. Other precautions against dis- 

ease. 

33. Calculation of probable labor cost 

per year. 

34. Calculation of income per year. 

35. Calculation of probable net 

profits. 

36. What accounts are kept by the 

owner? 

37. General criticisms. 

38. Special criticisms. 

39. Best points observed. 



See also Chapter IV. 



158 HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

Use of Poultry Shows. — The poultry students and instructor 
should plan to attend all good shows of standard poultry. Perhaps 
they will be able to participate in a show by selecting an exhibi- 
tion from their home stock or by selecting birds belonging to the 
school flock. 

At the show they should become familiar with the breeds of 
poultry and methods of staging them. The work of judging and 
managing a show should also be studied by such students. They 
should learn to know exhibitors of the leading breeds. There is often 
good opportunity for studying such exhibits as poultry appliances, 
poultry feeds, packing, shipping, charts, and methods of advertising. 

Relating the Laboratory Work to Project Methods. — In some 
schools there are students who do not go home daily, or frequently 
enough to conduct poultry projects at home. Such students can 
readily be assigned to projects at the school. If there are a num- 
ber of such students, they may work in groups with small houses of 
laying hens, with incubators, and mth flocks of young chicks in 
brooders. If they are assigned these tasks as projects which they 
pursue for profit, they will be more Mailing to do the chores regu- 
larly and frequently than if they work merely as performing a 
laboratory practice. Nearly all of the care of the school flock may 
be thus divided among students who are doing the work for profit 
as well as for instruction. 

Value of Poultry Surveys. — Instructors in poultiy husbandry, 
through the members of their classes, can often make valuable 
poultry surveys of the region or regions represented in the classes. 
Such surveys are of value to the students collecting the information. 
Often valuable suggestions are given them which will lead them to 
become more successful in their own poultry Avork. They will be 
able to make constructive criticisms of various methods which they 
see in use. They will be able to make contrasts between the good and 
the bad methods on different farms. They will o])tain lasting 
impressions by actual observations which they could not well gain 
in any other way. 

Poultry survej^s arc also valualile because of the data which are 
collected regarding the poultry raising in the neighborhood. Such 
information will he found vahuible to the instructor in deciding 
what points of instruction should be stressed in the class work and 
in the community work conducted from the school. The informa- 
tion at hand will be valuable in impressing special lessons in poultry 
husbandry from time to time throughout the course. 



USE OF TRAP NESTS IN POULTRY PRACTICE 159 

Poultry surveys are also valuable to the farmers whose places 
are included in the survey. The questions asked in the survey will 
arouse thought in the minds of the farmers themselves. The work 
of answering the questions will help the farmers. The fact that 
their answers are on file at the school will help them to think more 
of the details of their own business and to conduct it more intelli- 
gently and thoughtfully than they might otherwise do. Almost 
every farmer has a pride in knowing that his farm is being studied 
by an agricultural school or department. 

Outline for a Poultry Survey.^ — The following outline for a 
poultry survey is merely suggestive. It should be studied carefully 
and modified to suit the local conditions and to suit the special 
objects which the instructor may have in view. It may be made 
broader in some ways, and it may be more in detail in special 
particulars. It is believed that this outline could be included on an 
index card, 5x8 inches, by using both sides. 

1. Name and address of owner. 16. Are feeds purchased or raised? 

2. Number of chickens kept. 17. Kinds of scratch feed. 

3. Other kinds of poultry kept. 18. Methods of watering. 

Numbers of each. 19. Do you belong to a poultry club? 

4. Kinds of products ' sold, ■with 20. Is a poultry journal read? 

quantity of each. 21. Most common diseases and 

5. What varieties of chickens, pure enemies. 

or grade? 22. Losses from these. 

6. Are artificial incubators used? 23. Are products sold to consumers? 

7. Methods of housing. 24. To dealers? 

8. Kinds of houses. 25. Through other agencies? 

9. Sizes of houses. 26. Is parcel post used in marketing? 

10. Square feet of light in each. 27. Other shipping methods. 

11. Ventilation system. 28. Do you consider the business 

12. Scratching system. profitable? 

13. Yarding system. 29. Are accounts kept? 

14. Production of green feed. 30. Remarks. 

15. Are dry mash hoppers used? 

Use of Trap Nests in Poultry Practice: — When students are 
considering the matter of the selection of breeding stock or making 
studies in culling of the laying flock, the value of trap nests should 
be demonstrated by actual use. Equip one or more of the small 
colony houses in the poultry yard with two or three trap nests each. 
Have the hens all numbered with leg bands. Students who are in 
charge of each house should be cautioned to collect the eggs fre- 
quently. The eggs are to be marked with number of the hen pro- 
ducing them. 

3 See other outlines for farm surveys in Chapters V, VI. VII, IX, X 
and XII. 



160 HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

Close connection between the points of the cuUing; score card 
and the results in trap nesting should be shown. Make a list of all 
the hens by numbering and filling a score card for each hen at the 
beginning of the trial. As the trap nest record proceeds, compare 
the records of the hens with the score card made at the beginning. 
Some sharp contrasts may be developed showing that the judgment 
was not good. In other cases the judgment shown on the score card 
will be corroborated by the trap-nest record. 

If trap nests are used with breeding pens, the record kept should 
show not only the number of the hens but also the cock and his 
strain. The mark on the eggs may indicate both the number of the 
hen and the number of the cock. This is usually written in the 
form of a fraction, thus: ^%i. With pure-bred stock this record is 
of great importance as indicating pedigree of the egg and the chick 
to be hatched from it. If eggs are to be sold or used for hatching 
purposes, such records Adll l)e pmchased by many poultry breeders. 

Value of Study of Trap Nest Work.— In a group of agricultural 
students a number may be found who have had considerable prac- 
tice in modern methods of poultry feeding and management. For 
such students new hnes of work should be started by instructors so 
that these students will have enough valuable practice to occupy 
their tune profitably. In the following paragraphs are mentioned 
several other hnes of work which should be taken up by such stu- 
dents. Perhaps the whole class in some cases will find it profitable 
to follow such advanced fines of work. While performing these 
special lines of practice work they should be expected to continue 
their routine of the daily chores about the poultry yards and to 
become skilful by continued drill in the correct performance 
of details. 

Percentages of Chickens Hatched and Raised. — While pur- 
suing the daily work oi the poultry yard and conducting profitalile 
projects, students working as individuals or in groups should de- 
termine the percentages of eggs hatched by hens and by incubators. 
The numbers should be compared at the same time of year and 
under similar conditions. The percentage of hatch to the total 
number of eggs set may be determined, both with hens and with 
incubators. The number of hatched eggs should also be compared 
with the number found to be fertile by the test at the end of 
seven days. 

The number of chi(;ks raised to the end of two weeks or more 
should be compared with the number of chicks hatched by incu- 



PRESERVING EGGS 161 

bators and by hens. Only the sound chicks at hatching time should 
be counted. 

Students should be cautioned in the matter of drawing con- 
clusions from these trials. If possible, the results obtained should 
be compared mth the results of similar trials at experiment stations, 
colleges, and agricultural schools. Conclusions are best when 
drawn from a large number of trials. 

Time Required for Production of Fertile or Infertile Eggs.— If 
it is thought feasible, trials may be made to determine how much 
time is required before fertile eggs are layed by hens after the first 
mating. In view of the fact that poultry raisers are ui'ged to pro- 
duce infertile eggs for market a large part of the year, the question 
of how long to make use of the male birds before the breeding 
season is important. 

On the other hand, it is also important to determine how much 
time is required after the male birds are removed before fertility 
ceases. When a boy or girl finds no more use nor sale for fertile 
eggs, say in the spring of the year, how soon may infertile eggs be 
produced for the general market? 

Closely associated with these trials, it would be well for stu- 
dents to demonstrate the value of marketing infertile eggs. Make 
comparisons by holding lots of both kinds for many days. Com- 
pare the results. The conditions for holding may be such as would 
correspond closely to the ways in which they are usually kept in 
transit and in stores. 

Rapidity of Growth of Chicks of Different Breeds. — Demonstrate 
by trials which breeds are best for broilers by weighing a bunch of 
any convenient number of two different breeds. Begin the weighing 
at one day old. Weigh at the end of each week for a period of ten or 
twelve weeks. Compare a light breed, as the Leghorns, with a 
general purpose breed, as the Plymouth Rocks, or with a heavy 
breed, as the Cochins. 

In this ti'ial like methods of feeding and management should be 
used with both lots. 

Preserving Eggs. — Conduct trials in the preservation of eggs 
in summer for use in winter. In these trials compare different 
methods of preservation. Water glass, grease, and brine may be 
easily compared. Be sure to use sterile eggs for these trials if pos- 
sible. They should be perfectly clean without having been washed. 
Put them into the preserving material when very fresh, the same 
day they are laid if convenient to do so. 
11 



162 HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

Problems in calculating the profit from preserved eggs should be 
worked out carefully. The relative cost of different methods may 
be compared. 

Make a score card for judging preserved eggs in the winter 
season. Points to be included in this score card would be: Ap- 
pearance of shell ; change in weight ; size of air space in the end of 
the egg; freedom of egg from shell when opened; proper coloration 
of parts; strength of yolk membrane; consistency of albumen 
(natural or watery) ; frothing of whites when beaten ; absence of 
sulfur flavor when cooked and eaten; absence of other bad flavors. 

Lice Remedies.- — Let students make comparisons of various 
methods of combating Uce and mites. Compare light weight, 
amber colored petroleums, such as the natural Pennsylvania oils, 
with sodium fluoride powder. In place of the petroleum, kerosene 
mixed with lard or vaseline may be substituted. In these trials 
cost, labor, frequency of application, and permanenc}^ of results are 
to be compared. Make trials in nests, on roosts, on the birds 
themselves, with both young and old. 

Green Feed in Winter. — ^Try out all the details of the methods 
of production and management of sprouted oats as a green feed 
for laying hens and for chicks in the winter season. In the southern 
states make other trials with the growing of winter greens out of 
doors for use of these birds. 

Winter succulents from root crops and cabbage stored in cellars 
should be compared with sprouted oats or with outdoor green crops. 

In some cases it may be possible to make trials with clover 
silage, steamed alfalfa hay, and similar preserved crops. 

The comparison in these trials should include such factors as 
convenience, costs, palataljility, and results of feeding. 

Dry Mash and Wet Mash. — With young chicks or with laying 
hens parallel trials may be conducted to compare the advantages 
of feeding with dry mash or with wet mash. Consider the health, 
cleanliness, amount of labor, frequency of feeding, growth of 
birds, egg production, and cost. 

Poultry Work in Rural Schools. — In the smaller rural schools it 
may be impossible for a special poultry plant to be maintained. In 
this case most of the instruction may need to be based upon the 
home projects of the student and upon trips to nearby farms. Ex- 
periments, demonstrations, and special trials can be made on the 
farms of the neighborhood. These can be performed either in- 
dividually by students or by the class and instructor together when 



POULTRY WORK FOR TOWN GRADES 163 

time will permit. Let the poultry work form the basis for much 
of the other class work in the school. Correlate the teaching closely 
with the English, reading, spelling, drawing, writing, and arith- 
metic work. 

Poultry Work for Town Grades. — In towns and cities where 
poultry may be kept in back yards and vacant lots, the subject 
may be made an important one in school for children of the grades 
below the high school. The best time of year for this work is in the 
early spring or during the last half of the school year. The school 
studies in the subject should be founded upon the practice work 
of pupils at their homes. Each student should be expected, if 
possible, to conduct some kind of poultry project during the time 
he is pursuing this subject at school. 

Let the school work be well illustrated with pictures, charts, and 
drawings of plans of building. Have samples of feeds. There 
should be exercises with eggs brought to school for grading, eggs 
to be preserved for winter, chicks or adult fowls to be examined 
for mites or lice, others for judging and for teaching methods of 
culHng, etc. Let much of the school work of the class in other sub- 
jects be based upon the poultry projects of the members of the class. 

Many difficulties often arise in attempts to conduct poultry 
projects in cities and villages. The danger of hens scratching up 
gardens or in other ways vexing neighbors is often a great stum- 
bling block for those who wish to keep poultry. A nmnber of sug- 
gestions may help to solve this difficulty. Gardens and poultry 
can be made to harmonize with each other if the owners are willing 
to make them do so. 

1. Laying hens and young chicks may be confined in small yards much 
more than poultry keepers often beUeve. 

2. During the early garden season when fresh seed beds are planted, con- 
fine the birds almost constantly. They may be allowed to have a few minutes 
nm each evening just before roosting time. Then they will eat grass and pick 
up worms which their appetites crave most. They will seldom stop to scratch 
or dust themselves in flower beds or vegetable gardens at that time of day. 

3. Put brush from tree trimmings over the freshly planted seed beds 
where poultry love to scratch. After the ground has settled and the plants 
are large, the hens will do less damage. 

" 4. Teach your neighbors to remember that hens should be allowed in gar- 
dens before planting and after the gardens are large enough to be little injured. 
They pick up many cutworms and other insects that might injiue gardens. 

5. When crops are ripening, if they are attacked by poultry, keep the birds 
confined, at least fenced away from such crops. Tomatoes and grapes often 
require protection from poultry diu-ing the ripening season. 

6. A few eggs or an occasional broiler given to a complaining neighbor 
often settles an imaginary difficulty. 



164 HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

Short Courses in Poultry Husbandry.^ — Schools and colleges 
often find it advisable to offer short courses in poultry husbandry. 
These coui'ses should be well planned to suit the conditions of those 
who are expected to attend. Courses for one or two weeks are 
sometimes planned in counties or smaller neighborhoods. A few 
of the most important features of the business should be selected 
to be stressed during the short course. These topics may be feeding 
for the winter egg production, proper housing of poultrj^, enemies 
and parasites, and culling out the drones. Select such topics 
as are most important for the region. It may be that pure- 
bi-ed poultry and study of breeds should be considered before all 
other things. 

All of the lessons in such courses should be in the natiu'e oi 
experiments, demonstrations, and practice work. Theoretical 
matter disconnected from these should be given no place in short- 
course instruction. 

In college short courses lasting for a nmnber of weeks the choice 
of topics may be much greater, but the principles already given 
should be followed. Omit theories and give much practice. Students 
may be taken to farms where good practices are followed. There 
they may gain many valuable lessons by observation and by 
learning the best methods of successful poultrjanen. 

A Tjrpical Poultry Lesson.^ — ^Suppose that at a preceding meet- 
ing of the class the subject assigned was "Culling the Laying- 
Stock." Each member of the class may have been given special 
assigmnents to read in the preparation of the lesson. These assign- 
ments may have been to certain bulletins and books in addition to 
the textbook which the students may be using. Each member of 
the class was handed a copy of a culling card on which the points 
for culling are given (Lewis, "Productive Poultry Husbandry," 
Chapter XXX) . Each student is expected to go over the points of 
the culling while studying the references assigned to him. 

On the date of the recitation, to-day, a coop of hens of the flock 
should be in the laboratory or recitation room. Each student is 
asked to take one bird and go over the points of the culling card. 
One by one the students are called upon to make criticisms of the 
bird in hand. If desired, two students may be allowed to work on 
the same bird. One or both are then called upon to criticize the 
bird. One may give the bad j^oints and the other the good points. 
Birds may then be exchanged with other students and a second card 
used. Instead of using a second card the first card may be passed 



POULTRY OBSERVATIONS • 165 

to the second pair of students with the bird. The second paii'then 
go over that card with that bird and decide what changes they 
would make in the former record. Changes are then called for by 
the instructor. These are then discussed. 

After this each student may handle a number of the birds, 
particularly those which have been pronounced good in certain 
points, and others that are bad in the same corresponding points, 
as the width between pelvic bones and distance from keel bone to 
pelvic bones. 

Opportunity should be given to all students to learn thoroughly 
all of the important points in culling by the handling of birds and 
discussion of points. Have important features repeated and drilled 
upon at the close of the recitation period until the slowest members 
of the class have learned them thoroughly. 

Reading Assignments for Students. — ^There is a large and grow- 
ing amount of valuable reading matter on the subject of poultry 
husbandry. Much of the old-time matter based upon theories 
which were without scientific basis are now being displaced by val- 
uable discussions of practice founded upon modern biology. 

Students making a special study of poultry husbandry in col- 
leges, training departments, and high schools should be encouraged 
to form habits of reading such valuable literature as comes Avithin 
their reach. A number of experiment stations are sending out 
valuable bulletins dealing with poultry problems. These may be 
either assigned to individual students or may be left on reading 
tables where students most interested can make good use of them. 
If knowledge is gained in this way voluntarily, it is as valuable to 
students as anj^ study they can pursue. 

Things to Discover in Poultry Husbandry. — In tliis chapter 
several paragraphs have been given on things to discover by trials 
in poultry husbandry. There are always many points which stu- 
dents working with poultry will find out for themselves in a new 
way. Many of these points will really be discoveries to those 
students although they may have been known by others before. 
Among these points may be mentioned: Symptoms of diseases, 
remedy for diseases, curing of bad poultry habits, methods of feed- 
ing or other management, good and bad features in mai'keting, 
methods of advertising, mistakes in old theories, and new methods 
of doing many things. 

Poultry Observations. — ^Teach students to bring up in class 
ol)servations which they have made with their poultry flocks. 



166 - HOW TO TEACH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

There are many points which require constant attention of poultry 
keepers. Habits in careful observation on the part of beginners 
should be encouraged while they are studying the business. A 
few suggestions on these points are here given: 

(1) How soon after hatching do the symptoms of white diarrhoea begin? 
(2) At what age do chicks show a desire to roost on perches at night? (3) How 
soon after thoroughly oihng of roosts may mites begin to appear? (4) What 
influence do nest eggs have with laying hens? (5) When do young stock on 
free range begin to roost outdoors instead of indoors? (6) How many nights 
are required for breaking birds from roosting out of doors in the fall? (7) 
What conditions of the yard seem to develop gapes? (8) What relation seems 
to exist between cholera and wet mash feeding? 

Things to Do in Poultry Husbandry. — Teach students well how 
to do the many operations in managing poultry properly. Teach 
how to run incubators. Teach how to trim lamps. Teach how to 
transfer chicks from incubator to brooder. Teach how to mix 
poultry rations. Teach how to feed little chicks without causing 
diarrhoea. Teach how to keep brooder chicks warm without smoth- 
ering them. Teach how to fix the litter for laying hens in which to 
supply the scratch feed. Teach how to paint roosts and nests with 
oil to kill mites. Teach how to spray for disinfecting houses. Teach 
how to caponize. Teach how to dress broilers. Teach how to plump 
broilers. Teach how to pack broilers. Teach how to cull layers. 

Things to Solve in Poultry Husbandry. — Troublesome problems 
often present themselves to poultry breeders. To solve these is 
often a puzzle. The attention of students should be called to these 
puzzles frequently so they will get into the habit of solving them 
and gain ability to do so. Some of the poultry puzzles are sug- 
gested here: 

1. Find the cause of diarrhoea in little chicks and stop it. 

2. Why do young growing stock sometimes refuse to eat and "go light"? 

3. How can you best cure a broody hen of her fovei'? 

4. When an attack of gapes is discovered should the j)()ult ry premises be 
entirely moved oi- should other remedies be applied? 

5. How can you best solve the problem of supplying succident feed in 
the winter season? 

6. How can you best prevent the flock from in-breeding? 

7. From which hens should eggs be saved for hatching? 

8. How late should vou continue the hatchmg of chicks for next year's 
flock? ' 

9. What enemies are devastating the outdoor brooders or robbing the 
roosts? 

10. How can you best prevent attacks of crows and hawks? 

11. When prices of feed are high what feeds arc best to purchase? 

12. When objectionable points are found in breeding hens, determine 
the best mating to solve the difficulty. 



EXERCISES 167 

Poultry Reference Books/ — The reference library should be 
supplied with many good reference books on the subject of poultry 
husbandry. A number of these are published and a rather com- 
plete collection should be obtained if possible. Most of them differ 
considerably from each other, and there will be little serious dupli- 
cation if all of them are secured for reference work for students. 

These should include all the general books which are planned for 
general reference or textbook purposes. In addition to these add 
books on poultry diseases, history and descriptions of breeds. 
Probably the least desirable books are the old-style publications 
which give the personal experiences of unscientific breeders of 
j)oultry, some of these although still published are of little value to 
the modern student of agriculture. 

Bulletins on Poultry."* — The farmers' bulletin series of the 
United States Department of Agriculture includes several on this 
subject. The special poultry bulletins issued by the Division of 
Poultry Husbandry should always be available for reference. 
Obtain also poultry bulletins from a number of the state experi- 
ment stations, particularly those stations which have strong 
poultry departments. 

Poultry Journals and Catalogues.^ — ^Have on the reading table 
or reference shelves the leading poultry journals of the country. 
Secure also farm journals having good poultry departments in each 
issue. From time to time send for the catalogues of dealers in 
poultry supplies, such as incubators, brooders, and other poultry 
appliances and instruments. In the hatching season obtain cata- 
logues of breeders of pure-bred poultry. The addresses of these 
may be obtained from advertisements in poultry journals. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make a list of a number of contests to be entered by students while 
pursuing their poultry projects. 

2. In the hst of equipment for teaching poultry husbandry select those 
items which could be made by the members of the class. Make some of this 
equipment yourself. 

3. Make a long hst of poultry laboratory exercises and perform some of these. 

4. Conduct a poultry trip for studying a modern poultry farm, making 
an outline for this trip in advance. 

5. Prepare a pen of white poultry for show piuposes. 

6. Conduct a poultry survey for a small area; then revise j^our outhne 
for such a survey to be used in the future. 

7. Practice using trap nests with a small flock of hens. 

8. Conduct an investigation to determine the percentage of chickens 
hatched and raised in a certain commimity. 

* See also Chapter XVII. 



168 HOW TO TEACJH POULTRY HUSBANDRY 

9. Make a study to determine the time required for tlie production of 
fertile or infertile eggs. 

10. Make a trial to compare the rapidity of growth of chicks of two breeds. 

11. Make a hst of ten or more exercises suitable for use in a farmers' 
poultry short course. 

12. Outline several typical poultry lessons. 

13. Make a score card for examining and judging incubators. 

14. Make another for brooders. 

15. Make another for laying houses. 

16. Make a list of good topics for debate in poultry husbandry (see debates 
in Chapter XI). 

QUESTIONS 

1. State the specific aim in a course of poultry husbandry. 

2. State what you would include in a course in poultry husbandry. 

3. Give a list of equipment for teaching poultry husbandry. 

4. Describe the class work in this course. 

5. Tell of the importance of review work in this subject. 

6. Give a list of the main laboratory exercises in this course. 

7. What poultry trips would be suitable for the class in your region? 

8. Why should there be a good outline made before the trip is taken? 

9. Give the chief points to be included in this outline. 

10. Why should students be encouraged to particijiate in poultry shows? 

11. W^hy should the laboratory work be closely rekted to the project work? 

12. Mention some specific values in a poultry survey. 

13. Give a list of points to be included in the questionary. 

14. Why should students be encouraged to use trap nests? 

15. Why should students keep records of the percentage of chicks hatched 

and raised? 

16. What things will influence the tune required for the production of fertile 

or infertile eggs? 

17. How does the rapidity of growth of a breed of chicks influence the value 

of that breed for broiler purposes? 

18. Give the points in a score card for judging preserved eggs? 

19. What values would you place on these points? 

20. Why should students select the simplest and best remedies for lice and 

mites? 

21. Give a reason for studying the production of green feed in winter. 

22. Describe a trial for comparing wet and dry mashes. 

23. Give suggestions for conducting the poultry work for rural schools; for 

town grades. 

24. Why should teachers of poultry husbandry be trained in all the poultry 

laboratory work? 

25. Mention twelve good exercises to be performed before a farmers' poultry 

short course. 

26. Outline and criticize a typical poultry lesson. 

27.. Give an example of good reading assignments in this subject. 

28. Give a list of discoveries to be made in this subject. 

29. What poultry observations should you encourage students to make? 

30. Give a list of important things to do while teaching poultry husbandry. 

31. Give a hst of things to solve in this subject. 



CHAPTER IX 
HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

"The specific aim of the work in horticulture is to enable young people to 
obtain such a knowledge of the characteristics, propagation, culture, improve- 
ment, harvesting, storage, marketing, and use of the principal local vegetable 
and fruit crops as wiU prepare them for success in vegetable and fruit raising." 
— Report of Committee on Agriculture of the N. E. A. Commission on Reorgan- 
ization of Secondary Education. 

The subject of horticulture as here considered includes the 
study of orchard fruits, small fruits, vegetables, flowers, and orna- 




FiG. 59. — Teach students to make root grafts as a winter laboratory exercise. (J. A. 

Cederstrom.) 

mental plants. In many schools this subject is taken up as a 
one-year course or as a half-year course. This is particularly 
true in high schools. In junior high schools having only two years 
of agricultural work the subject of horticulture is usually a part of 
the one year of plant life. 

Content of the Course in Horticulture. — This will necessarily 
vary somewhat in different schools according to the importance of 
horticultural products in the particular section of country. In 
practically all sections of all states there should be considerable in- 
terest in nearly all of the divisions of horticulture. Some plant 
propagation by means of grafting (Fig. 59), budding, layering, 
division of roots, and by seeds should be given in the course. 

Probably most of the vegetable gardening should be taught from 

169 



170 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



the standpoint of home gardening (Fig. 60) rather than com- 
mercial gardening. This, however, will vary in different sections. 
If there be a good market for garden products near by, students 
should be taught to grow products for this market. In this case 
the nmiiber of kinds of vegetables may be more restricted than 




-Two good kinds of projects in gardening, beans and early potatoes. 
Mooney, New Hampshire.) 



(R. A. 



when the general home garden is the main object. Whether to 
include in the vegetable garden the extensive growing of Irish 
potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn is somewhat doubtful. If 
students have conducted projects with these in a course in field 
crops, they may be omitted from the vegetable garden work. 

The orchard work should include all of the fruits which have 
been or could be well grown in the climate and soils of that region. 
If the soil be too light, apples and some types of plums may be 



ATTITUDE OF CLASS TOWARDS TOPICS SELECTED 171 

omitted, but other types of plums and peaches should be stressed. 
If the region is suited to apples, pears, and cherries, more stress may 
be given to them than to peaches. The choice between sour cher- 
ries and sweet cherries should be largely decided by the conditions 
of soil and climate. 

In choosing what small fruits to include in the course we should 
again decide which ones are well adapted to the region. In north- 
ern states all of the bush fruits should be included. Strawberries 
and grapes can be grown in nearly all sections of the country. In 
the southern states Muscadine grapes may be added to the vine- 
yard besides the bunch grapes. The bush fruits, except currants 
and gooseberries, are well adapted to the southern states. 

Nuts are usually better adapted to the South than to the North, 
though black walnut and some other nut culture may be studied in 
northern states if the local interests warrant it. 

The study of the home wood lot should be taken up in this 
course and may include nut cultm'e. In the North sugar produc- 
tion should be an element in the study of home wood lots, while in 
the South the growth of English walnuts, pecans, and other nuts 
may be considered in connection with the home wood lot. 

Beautifying home grounds is an important phase of the study 
of horticulture in almost all parts of America. What to plant and 
how to plant for the beautification of home grounds, school grounds, 
highways, and all public places should be considered here — trees, 
shrubs, vines, flowers, and lawoi grasses. 

Limitations of the Course. — The amount of matter to be in- 
cluded under the subject of horticulture in any school should be 
governed largely by the amount of time which the student may 
devote to the subject. 

If only a half of the school year is devoted to the whole subject 
of horticulture, a nmnber of the vegetables which are rare or least 
suited to the region should be omitted. The time devoted to 
plant propagation should be rather restricted and should be directed 
towards those lines wliich would be most practical for the members 
of the class. If the subject of seed testing has been considered in 
connection with field crops or other plant husbandry work — e.g., 
in botany, it may be omitted from this com'se. Even the work in 
orchard fruits may be chiefly directed towards one or two kinds, 
for example, peaches and apples or plums and peaches. The work 
in small fruits may even be confined if necessary to strawberries, 
one of the bush fruits, and grapes. 

Attitude of the Class Towards Topics Selected. — ^The members 



172 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

of the class should feel that the topics which are selected for study 
in this course are ones which will give the greatest returns in their 
projects while attending school and afterwards. The time devoted 
to the subject of horticulture in any school is usually too brief to 
include everything which might properly be called horticulture. 
The growth of cranberries, for example, may be made interesting 
to any class anywhere, but it will be far more interesting to the 
class in some region where cranberries should be grown and can 
be grown wdth much profit. 

A good guide in determining the interest and importance of 
different phases of horticulture is to select first, if possible, the proj- 
ects which the members of the class are to pursue. These should 
l)e studied and made the chief center of thought by all the members 
of the class. Local surveys may be quickly made even if they are 
not intensive at first. These will indicate what horticultural sub- 
jects are of most local importance, and what should be stressed 
with the members of the class. Arrange all these topics to suit to 
the season of the year so far as possible. 

Methods in Horticulture. — Tliis is not an abstract subject and 
should never be taught as such. There are so many materials and 
things to be handled and used that some of these should always be 
at hand for study by the class either during the recitation or labo- 
ratory work. 

Practicums, exercises, field trips, study of markets, and other 
practical phases should always be uppermost in the mind of the 
instructor. The study of subject matter itself should always be 
based upon these other phases of work. Horticulture lends itself 
better to the practical phases of teaching than does almost any 
other division of agriculture. Pruning, spraying, thinning, propa- 
gating, transplanting, cultivating, f(M-tilizing, harvesting, packing, 
storing, and marketing all come so rapidly l)efore the live instmctor 
of the sul:)ject that he will n^ally dislikes to give abstract lessons to 
his classes. 

Equipment for Teaching Plant Propagation. — There should be 
in any school laboratory a few simple things for teaching grafting 
(Fig. 59), budding, and propagating by other methods. If the school 
does not own its own grafting knives and budding knives, members 
of the class may be expected to supply themselves with these. 

There should be in the laboratory or somewhere about the 
school a suitable place for storing ])0xes of apple seedling roots, 
scions, and otluM- fresh materials. These should be so kept as to be 



EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING PLANT PROPAGATION 173 

in a cool, moist condition for a number of weeks and be ready for 
use during the winter when needed. Sawdust or sand for packing 
is necessary. 

There should be shallow boxes about 13^ by 2 feet over the 
top and four inches deep for use in starting hardwood and softwood 
cvittings, sprouting seeds, and transplanting seedlings. These 
trays or "flats" may be made by the students. Plants for produc- 
ing these cuttings may be grown in the windows of the laboratory 
or may be obtained when desired from the homes of students or 
neighbors. Hardwood cuttings may be taken from shrubs or from 
plants out of doors during the fall or early winter and stored in such 
places as have been mentioned, where they may be left to callous. 
Students should, of course, make these cuttings for practice work. 

A laboratory where horticulture is to be taught should be 
supplied with many samples of spraying materials. These should 
include the ingredients of BordeaiLX mixtm'e and kerosene emulsion, 
soluble oils, lime-sulfm-, nicotine sulfate, and all poison sprays, 
such as Paris green, arsenate of lead, and iron sulfate. Add to 
this list all patent preparations that may be found on the market 
which seem practical for use. Have several forms of spraying 
apparatus, including a bucket sprayer, a knapsack sprayer, a 
barrel sprayer, and one or more small hand sprayers. If larger 
spraying apparatus is needed, it is, of course, not to be kept in the 
main laboratory. 

Pruning tools should be ready for use in the laboratory. These 
will include hand shears, double-handle shears of several kinds; 
long extension pruners of one or two lengths may be necessary. 
Pruning saws and heavy dehorners should be shown and be ready 
for use. Utensils and materials for making grafting waxes, for 
waxing grafting cotton, materials for painting tree wounds, etc., 
should be available in the laboratory. In making wax heat is 
necessary, and a burner used in other agricultural exercises may 
serve the purpose. 

In the teaching of horticulture it is advisable to teach the 
mixing and application of fertilizers for both general and special 
purposes. Fertilizing materials for illustration and for mixing 
should be at hand in the laboratory. These may be kept in boxes 
or special bins made for the purpose. Samples may be kept in 
large jars, where they may be easily examined and used in such 
experiments as testing their solubility. 

Samples of orchard soils of various kinds, particularly from 



174 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

those regions where the students Hve, may be kept in bins or soil 
cans. These soils may be used in the propagation work in the 
trays already mentioned. Sharp sand should be available for use 
in flats Avhen cuttings are to be rooted and for use in other exercises. 

The laboratory should be provided with insect specimens and 
with examples of their work on trees, shrubs and other plants; 
specimens showing the injury from diseases should also be available. 
Examples of good and bad pruning may be mounted on cards for 
quick reference when needed in the classroom. 

Outdoor Equipment for Teaching Horticulture. — On the school 
grounds, if possible, it is well to have ornamental plantings of 
shrubs of many kinds, and vines which climb on trellises, on wood, 
and on masonry surfaces. It is best to have perennial vines as 
well as annuals. There should be grass lawns Avhere the care of 
lawns may be taught. 

A small orchard, including a few of each of the kinds of fruits 
suited to the region, should be grown on the land laboratory of the 
school. If this is impossible let a young orchard be started on a 
neighboring farm with the privilege of study and work by the 
school. It is well, if possible, to have orchard trees of different ages 
for student practice. These \\i\\ offer different problems in prun- 
ing, spraying, fighting borers, etc. 

A young or an old vineyard, or both, should be either on the 
school land or near by, for practice work. This vineyard need not 
be large, but the size may be suited to the available land and to 
the number of students likely to be pursuing the work. 

Bush fruits of the types suitable for the region may be grown 
either on the school land or on the neighboring farm. Not many 
of these are needed, but a few blackberries, raspberries, and per- 
haps currants and gooseberries should be handy for the teaching 
of horticulture. Have also, at least, a small patch of strawberries to 
teach methods in controlling the runners, propagating the plants, 
mulching, cultivating, fertilizing, etc. 

A School Garden.^ — A part of the land laboratorj^ should be 
devoted to a school garden. The size of this may be governed by 
the method to be followed in conducting it. If each member of the 
class is to be assigned a definite area, a certain number of rows for 
his individual care, the area may be much larger than if only a 
cooperative garden is to be managed. If the area will permit, the 
individual management with a few I'ows is much better than the 

1 See also Chapter XIV. 



HOTBEDS AND COLDFRAMES 175 

cooperative plan. Conducting the vegetable garden exercises on 
neighboring farms is usually not satisfactory. Of course, students 
may pursue their home projects in vegetable gardening. But there 
are so many lessons which should be taught in the garden itself 
with the whole class present that a small piece of land, planted with 
garden crops, should be near by and entirely under the control of 
the class. If home projects are conducted by individual members 
of the class, the area devoted to the school garden may be 
very small. 

Garden Tools and Implements. — A suitable place for keeping 
the necessary number of rakes, hoes, spading forks, markers, 
twine winders, lines, planters, and cultivators should be either 
attached to the school building itself or should be erected as a 
separate small building. Sometimes the basement of the school 
building itself may be used; a" large empty room or closet may 
serve the purpose. 

All the tools should be numbered. These numbers may be 
burned on the handles, stamped with a steel die on the metal parts, 
or the nmnbers may be painted on the tools. Have racks and 
holders suitable for keeping the tools in order. The places may be 
numbered to correspond with the tools kept in them. Order in 
their arrangement and storage should be taught to all students 
for the sake of their future habits. 

Storage places for seeds may be arranged in the same room where 
the tools are kept, pro^dded, of course, that mice and weevils are 
excluded by the containers. This room should also contain hand 
sprinklers, garden hose, and other watering apparatus. The room 
also serves as a suitable place for keeping drainage tools, samples 
of drainage tile, flats for propagation of plants and growing of 
seedlings, and other special garden and orchard apparatus. 

Hotbeds and Coldframes. — In some secluded spot protected 
from the north and west winds by some building, hedge, or row of 
evergreens, the students may be taught to build hotbeds and cold- 
frames (Fig. 61). The framing materials may be so put together 
each season that they may be easily knocked down for storage until 
another j^ear; thus each class will have practice in the details of con- 
struction of the frames. Glass sashes must be provided, of suitable 
size to cover the frames. The sashes and framing materials may be 
stored from one season to another in the garden house where the 
tools are kept. 

Deep pits constructed of wood or concrete are of great value in 



176 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

keeping over winter plants which will l)c suitable in the laboratory 
during the winter. Bedding plants and stocks for producing house 
plants and flower beds may be often kept over winter in deep 
flower pits. 

Some dry cellar space, either at the school or the instructor's 
home or perhaps at the home of some neighbor or student, should be 
used for the storage of roots of cannas, caladiums, dahlias^ and 
other bulbs which are taken up in the fall. Garden and orchard 
products may also be stored in such a root cellar. 

A School Greenhouse. — Very few instructors teaching agri- 
culture below college rank are provided with a special greenhouse 
for horticultural teaching (see Chapter XV). A few high schools 




Fig. G1. — Group work in making hotbeds and coldframes. The equipment of the school is 
improved and the students gain vahiable experience. (A. A. Pryor.) 

may find it possible to erect small greenhouses; but when funds are 
limited the expense of providing and maintaining such a structure 
should be avoided. Most colleges teaching agriculture conduct 
greenhouse work. They have students that expect to follow some 
special line of horticulture involving the extensive use of glass. 
Where vegetables are extensively grown in the winter under glass, 
and wher(^ sp(;cial crops of flowers ai'e grown for market, instruction 
in greenhouse work is important. 

Class Work in Horticulture.^ — Old-fashioned lecture methods 
of teaching, in which the students are expected to take down the 
thoughts of the instructor, are not well suited to the subject of 
hoi-ticulture. Lesson assignments may be made in advance and a 
study period should be used by the student. There are many books 
and l)ulletins on horticultural topics which should be used in mak- 
ing references for looking up topical assignments. 

This subject lends itself well to the topical method of (;onduct- 



CLASS WORK IN HORTICULTURE 



177 



ing the class work. A lesson in horticulture may easily he divided 
into a numljer of small topics. These topics may be assigned to 
individual students to be carefully prepared during the regular 
study period and reported to the class at the next regular tune. 
A topic is sometimes assigned to more than one student; but dif- 
ferent references are then given to each, so that the thought of 
different authors may be presented at recitation time. Each stu- 
dent appreciates that he is pursuing a different line of thought from 





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Fig. 



62. — Let students learn the limits of spray outfits that u 
orchard work. (S. R. S., U. S. D. X.) 



the rest, and will do the work with much more interest and recite 
with a better spirit than if all the topics are assigned to all the class. 

During the study period the references given at the time of the 
assignment may be supplemented if necessary by the instructor in 
charge of the stud3^-room at the time. Students should take such 
notes during their study as will enable them to present to the class 
the matter which they have read. 

During the recitation the students are called upon in the order 
which ^^nll most clearly and practically develop the whole lesson in 
the mind of the members of the class. By practical order here is 
meant the order of procedure as it would be followed in conducting 
the work in a project at home. Each student should be trained in so 
12 



178 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



clearly presenting his topic that all the members of the class mil 
get the important thoughts on that topic. He should then be asked 
to impress on the class the points which should be stressed or which 
are most important for them to remember in their work. If two 
students have the same topic, the second should be asked to empha- 
size or to supplement the first report. If, for example, the first 
student has reported upon the purposes or methods of a winter mulch 
for a strawberry bed, the second student, to whom was assigned the 
same topic, may be asked to review the puiposes or methods and the 
materials used. He may be asked also to give any additional 




Fig. 63. — Student spraying orchard for codling moth for the second time, two weeks after 
blossoms are gone. Teach the use of suitable equipment. (V. \V. Longley, Minn.) 

thoughts which his authors have mentioned. Members of the class 
listening to the reports on special topics should be taught to 
take in outline form such memoranda as will be helpful to them 
in their work. 

An Example of the Topical Method in Horticulture. — Suppose 
the next l(>sson is to be on the subject of enemies of the apple or- 
chard and how to control them. Suitable topics for the assigmiient 
to individual students may be: (1) The life and damage of the 
codling moth; (2) methods and reasons for the methods of con- 
trolling codling moths; (3) life history and damage of canker worms; 
(4) control of canker worms ; (5) life history and damage of apple- 
tree borers; (6) the protection of trees from borers, removal of 
borers, and description of borers; (7) life and damage of the apple 
aphis, including all forms; (8) methods of controlling all forms of 
apple aphis; (9) life, damage, and methods of control of tent cater" 



THE RECITATION 



179 



pillars; (10) secure sample of apple scab, describe its life, and give 
remedies; (11) twig blight; (12) bitter rot; (13) frog eye; (14) 
apple rust and cedar apple; (15) canker and sun scald. 

References on each of these subjects should be so extensive that 
the student will really do some valuable reading and study on his 
own topic, as treatment in the general text on horticulture is far too 
brief for a student who is conducting an apple project for profit. 
He must delve deeply into his topic and be ready to report the best 
of it to the class. The references on these topics should be to bulle- 



FiG. 64. 



Fig. 65. 




Fig. 64. — A hotbed ^project at. home may bring a good inoome from tho sale of plants such 

as tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, or peppers. (A. W. Hand, N. J.) 
Fig. 65. — The profit from a large tomato project is often very great. The crop may be 
marketed or canned. This student saved hand labor by cultivating the rows both ways. 

(A. W. Hand.) 

tins, books on insects and diseases, and perhaps to special books on 
the apple. Each student should be instructed to examine speci- 
mens which show damage due to these enemies, and to examine 
collections which show insects in various forms, if possible. Have 
them bring pictures and specimens to the class to illustrate their 
reports. Those who report on methods of control should also select 
the materials which will add interest to their reports. 

The Recitation. — In arranging the foregoing topics the order 
suggested in the assignment may be followed. However, the im- 
portance of the enemies in a region should be considered, and the 
most important should be taken up first. The most injurious 
insects and their control may be followed by the most injurious dis- 
eases and their control. It would be well to follow this lesson with 



180 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



a series of such topics as methods of spra3'ing, apparatus to be used, 
and time of apphcation. This whole matter may be then summed 




Fig. 66. — The first lesson in pruning may be given in a yard near the scliool. This can 
teach the methods of cutting and tlic use of several kinds of tools. (E. R. Thompson, Okla.) 




Fic. 67. — Give students practice in prunin- (. :,( h t n. - in a iijiular orchard. Here they 

should work somewhat independently — only one i.r luo mi • tree. This will develop the 

principles in tlie mind of each. (II. U. Naylor, Okla.) 

up in the spray calendar which each student may be expected to 
make and on which all should be thoroughly drilled. Skill in quiz- 
zing all of the students on many points may be exercised by the 



EXERCISE PRECEDING GARDEN PROJECTS 



181 



instructor. The same results may be reached by questioning them 
from various points of view. F'or example, students may be asked 
what insects are controlled by certain insecticides. Or what insec- 
ticides should be used for the control of certain enemies. Or 
what enemies are controlled by spraying at certain times — the 
dormant spray, the spray after petals fall, or the spray two weeks 
later, etc. 

A Blackboard Exercise Preceding Garden Projects. — Suppose 
the assignment made was that each member of the class is to draw 
a plan for his home vegetable garden, including all the kinds 



Fig. 68. 



Fig. 69. 




Fio. 08. — The pruner of a young tree must actually plan its iutiin .liaiir .iii.l wnk in har- 
mony with nature's laws. (H. I. Schnabt'l, ('alif.j 
Fig. 69. — When students are pruning an orchard let each work on one tree and not work 
in large groups on the same tree. Compare Fig. 7. (R. M. Vifquain, Iowa.) 

grown in it last year. All are to look up these points: (1) area, 
(2) shape, (3) direction of rows, (4) reasons for long rows, (5) 
advantages of using a horse in tillage between rows, (6) list of 
vegetables for home garden, (7) what varieties of each to grow, 
(8) quantity of each for their homes, (9) best dates for planting 
these, (10) what ones to be planted several times and why. 

At recitation time let a number of the best plans be placed on 
the board. While this is being done have lists of the kinds and 
varieties written on the board, with quantities to be grown. 
While students are at the board have others -tell what vegetables 
are hardy against spring frosts and what ones are not. Have some 
tell what dates these should be planted, and how often and how long 
between plantings of the repeaters. After all plans and lists are 



182 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



on the board have thein judged by members of the class — the 
plans first. Consider size, direction of rows, length of rows, min- 




FiG. 70. — The school may often find grapes to prune in back yards near by. They should 

be taught tlie proper pruning for vines on an arbor, as well as for fruit in a vineyard. 

(E. H. Thompson,. Okla.) 







■i ■ ■^■.-v!- ■ -'MiuA 

Fig. 71. — Gr;\i.(i "ii ;i wire trellis in a k: ir I ^i.. -tn l( ni.s better practice in 

pruning. It is like their home project wihk in nuuiy resiiects. iG. \i. Ransom, Okla.) 

imvim amount of hand work, amount of horse work. Let students 
who did not go to the board discuss these plans, point by point. 
Let others discuss the lists of vegetables, quantities, and best 



LABORATORY EXERCISES AND PRACTICE WORK 183 

varieties. Let new kinds which were not included be considered, as 
Swiss chard or New Zealand spinach. Have students repeat the 
important points in the plans, as to using a horse for the garden 
work. A little time may be given to consider the saving in growing 
home gardens. 

' Laboratory Work. — Much of the time of the classes studying 
horticulture can be used, particularly during the winter, in practice 
work and in performing laboratory exercises. This kind of work 
should have as its object the teaching of how to do things as well 
as the teaching of lessons in real subject matter. 

Do not let any time be spent in the laboratory merely for the 
sake of consuming winter hom's of the students. Let all the exer- 
cises have clear, accurate, and definite aims. The instructor should 
know positively what to expect from his pupils as the result of each 
laboratory assignment. Select such exercises as will be of real value 
to the students that are performing them. 

The keeping of notebooks on laboratory work should be simple 
and brief and not voluminous. The exercises may be numbered. 
The report or notes on each exercise should be on a page distinct 
from the rest. Do not allow pupils to fall into careless methods in 
keeping their notes, nor in the performance of their exercises. At 
first the instructor should work with the students enough to teach 
them good methods; how to handle apparatus; how to clean up and 
put away materials used; how to clean up the tables; and how to 
take notes. Teach students to be systematic and methodical; teach 
them to be observing, particularly in natural processes. As far 
as possible they should learn to be independent of each other. If 
certain students show an inclination to "lean on" other students 
for their notes and results, give them special caution frequently. 
Remove temptation from their surroundings. 

Laboratory Exercises and Practice Work in Fniit Growing. — (1) Store 
apple roots intended for stocks for winter grafting. 

(2) Winter prunings from the apple orchard may be brought to the lab- 
oratory and there cut into suitable lengths for use as scions, selecting only 
the new wood. Store these in wet sawdust in a cool place. 

(3) Labeling should be taught. Let each of the kinds of the scions be 
properly labeled, using painted wooden labels. Each kind must be tied sepa- 
rately and labels should be securely fastened. 

(4) With rosin, paraffin, and tallow make up a batch of grafting wax, and 
let each student puU some of it as he would taffy candy, greasing the fingers 
to prevent sticking. It is important to keep the temperature just right to 
prevent it from becoming unmanageable. 

(5) Take one or more balls of No. 18 knitting cotton and wind it into 
skeins over a book about eight inches long. Cut both ends of the skeins 



184 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

and tie the strands at the middle and then dip these into mehed grafting wax. 
This waxed cotton may be laid on oiled paper ready for use in grafting and 
budding exercises. 

(6) With apple scions and apple root stocks let all the students practice 
making many root grafts. These should be counted and labeled and stored 
away to callous. Let each student become proficient. He should show the 
grafts to the instructor before they are wrapped as well as aftenvards. The 
tongue graft should be an inch or more in length. 

(7) Students should practice budding on willows or other twigs that have 
been kept in water jars in a warm room until the bark is loose. Budding of 
this kind is for drill only and the product may be discarded. 

(8) Students should perform exercises in the making of Bordeaux mixture. 

(9) Learn to test Bordeaux mixture by the yellow prussiate of potash 
method; also by the knife-blade method; also by' the plate-exposure method. 

(10) Have lime, sulfur, and the vessel for boiling these and prepare a 
large batch of Ume-sulfur to be kept as stock solution. 

(11) Students should be taught to test hquid lime-suKur with the 
Baume scale. They should then dilute a small amomit of the sokition for 
winter spraying. 

(12) Try dissolving poison materials in Bordeaux mix-ture and in lime- 
sulfur solution, using separately 'Paris green, dry arsenate of lead, and the 
paste form of arsenate of lead. 

(13) Make up a small amount of the stock solution of ammoniacal car- 
bonate of copper. Then dilute this for the summer strength. 

(14) An exercise may be tried in the making of miscible oil. Dilute 
this or some that has been prepared before with the right amount of water for 
winter spraying. 

.(15) Indoor exercises in pruning may be planned by digging a number of 
yoimg trees, bringing them to the laboratory for this work. 

(16) Make an apple-sorting table with a wood frame and sloping top. 
Over this is tacked burlap bagging. It should be depressed enough to hold 
one or two bushels of apples at a time. 

(17) Have apples brought to the laboratory for sorting, grading, and packing. 

(18) After the apples have been graded and sorted carefully each student 
should have practice in wrapping with paper and packing in standard apple 
boxes. The different styles of packs should be learned by each student by 
packing apples of different sizes in different boxes. 

(19) Learn to pack barrels of apples. Skill in facing may be made a 
matter of competition between students. Practice heading barrels until 
students are skilful. 

(20) Students may be given good practice in sharpening pruning tools, 
grafting and budding knives, and tillage imi)lements. 

(21) Study the different types of spraying apparatus (Figs. 62 and 63). 
Let each sprayer be dissected and repack the parts if needed. Let any neces- 
sary adjustment be made and the parts be reassembled for use. 

(22) Study nozzles of different types. Their effects may be tested in the 
laboratory with one or more of the sprayers. 

(23) "Students should become familiar, by careful examination, with the 
different kinds of scale insects and other orchard pests. 

(24) Study specimens of diseases, as black rot, club root, crown gall, 
canker, sun scald, twig blight, brown rot of stone fruits, scab on apples, apple 
rust, cedar apple, frog eye, and others. 

(25) Exercises in the making up of fruit i)ackages for berries, apples, 
peaches, etc., may be conducted in the laboratory dining the winter. 

(26) Study of varieties of fruits should be practiced until all students 
know the distinctive character of the leading varieties. 



LABORATORY EXERCISES IN GARDENING 185 

(27) Fruit descriptions should be made, using standard outlines and forms 
made for that purpose. 

(28) Practice using score cards for fruit exhibits. 

Laboratory Exercises in Gardening. — Winter is a good time for 
practicing a number of exercises in the laboratory before the season 
opens enough to start outdoor work. Some of these exercises may 
be in flower pits, in hotbeds, in coldframes, and in storage cellars. 

(1) Let each student make a suitable plan for an ideal home garden 
having in mind his own place for the garden. These plans should be discussed 
with reference to soil, exposure, suitability to different garden crops, fences, 
need of fertihzer, lime, and other points. 

(2) Make flats for use in hotbeds later. Box lumber may be used for 
this purpose. 

(3) Plan an exercise in the study of garden seeds of all kinds. 

(4) Test garden seeds until students are familiar with different methods. 
(.5) Study garden fertilizers, forms of lime, and practice mixing fertilizers. 

(6) Try experiments with different types of garden soils. Percolation 
and capillarity may be tried with soils varying in their amounts of sand and 
amounts of humus. 

(7) Try solubility exercises with different kinds of fertilizers. 

(8) With soils in the flats have students plant seeds of the vegetables 
which require transplanting. This should be done at the proper season. In- 
clude early cabbage, tomatoes, cauhflower, peppers, eggplant, head lettuce, etc. 

(9) Construct frames for hotbeds and coldframes. 

(10) Learn to reglaze and putty sashes to be used on hotbeds and cold- 
frames. 

(11) Make sieves, using wire netting of different meshes. These are use- 
ful in sifting soils for seed-bed fiats and pots. 

(12) Exercises in the making, painting and numbering of garden stakes and 
large and small labels may be conducted when these materials are needed. 

(13) Students should make twine winders and dibbers. 

(14) Simple markers for hand use in the garden should be made in the 
winter laboratory. 

(15) Let students make soft-wood cuttings from house plants such as 
geraniums, fuchsias, carnations, etc. These may be started to root in flats 
of sharp sand in the windows. 

(16) Practice in making several types of bird houses wiU impress the lesson 
of the importance of such things. 

(17) Potting exercises may be conducted on potting tables having strips 
around the sides to hold soils. Try potting cuttings that have formed roots 
in trays; tomatoes or other seedhngs may be transferred to pots. Plants should 
be moved from small pots to large ones. Give practice in that kind of work 
when needed. 

(18) Students should be taught to cure by drying, brining, canning ih 
tins and canning in glass. 

(19) Store garden products for winter. Practice in curing, along with 
methods of storing, is advisable. 

(20) In winter visit store houses and study the products stored there. 
Exercises in the amount of skrinkage of different products may be conducted. 

(21) Study specimens of diseases such as nematodes on carrots, scab on 
Irish potatoes, rot on sweet potatoes, etc. 

(22) Practice the use of the score card in scoring and judging exhibits 
of Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other winter forms of garden products. 



186 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

Outdoor Garden Exercises. — (1) Excavate for hotbed frames, install the 
frames, manuro the soil, and cover with glass (Fig. 64). 

(2) Install coldframes and cover with cloth or glass. 

(3) Planting the seeds or transplanting the plants to hotbeds or cold- 
frames should be performed by all students until they are skilful. 

(4) Construct or repair garden fences, paint posts, and use whitewash 
on fences where desired. 

(5) Stake the corners of the garden and stake off the "lands" for plowing. 
Pla,n for the back furrow or bedding-up method of plowing. 

(6) Learn to lay off garden rows and stake them for future planting. 

(7) Practice the ventilating, controlUng temperature, and watering of 
hotbeds, coldframes, and flower pits. 

(8) In early spring practice raking lawns, manuring and reseeding spots 
where the sod is weak, repairing terraces, and correcting drainage. 

(9) Give drills in piiming shrubbery, planting and transplanting shrubs 
where needed. 

(10) Repair and build walls, roads and curbings, and other edgings. 

(11) Erect an overhead irrigation system or install other fonns of gar- 
den irrigation. 

(12) Practice making a good seedbed with a hand rake in the open garden. 

(13) Under the instructor's guidance line off, plant, cover, and firm soil. 

(14) Give practice in transplanting jjlaiits to the open garden when con- 
ditions are favorable. This should include mulching about the plants with 
a rake. 

(15) Later there should be exercises in thinning of garden rows, cultiva- 
tion with hand cultivator, identification and pulling of weeds, etc. 

(16) Make stakes and practice using them for supports of tomatoes, egg- 
plants and others. 

(17) Practice combating enemies with spraying methods, dusting methods, 
and hand picking. Pruning and removing of suckers and dead parts in the 
garden should be practiced. 

(18) Have exercises showing the best cultural methods for each of the 
crops grown at the school (Fig. 65). 

(19) Instructors should give definite ideas followed by practice in the 
judging of maturity of garden crops. 

(20) Practice harvesting, washing, bunching or otherwise preparing 
garden products for market. 

(21) The instructor should teach students how to sell products; the best 
methods of marketing should be included. Let students practice until perfect, 
using the best methods. In the fall repeat the exercises in drying, brining, 
canning or otherwise ]3reserving garden products for futiu'e use. 

Outdoor Exercises in the Orchard and Fruit Garden. — (1) Pruning both 
young and old trees should be practiced enough to make all students skilful. 
Include as many lands of trees as you have available (Figs. 66, 67, 68 and 69). 

(2) Prune bush fruits, including all that are grown in the region. This 
should be accompanied by examination of fruit buds and the location of the 
future crop. 

(3) Practice priming both young and old grape vines. This may be 
made to include vines which are to be supported according to various systems 
of trelUsing (Figs. 70 and 71). 

(4) Make cuttings from grape prunings, from bush fi'uit primings, and 
scions from orchard primings for use in propagation of these plants. 

(5) Examine trees, shrubs, and vines for their natural enemies, such as 
scale insects, diseases, etc. Good specimens of all such materials should be 
saved for future use of classes. 

(6) Practice spraying with miscible oil, lime-sulfur or other winter ma- 



TRIPS TO NEIGHBORING ORCHARDS 187 

terials. Use, if possible, several types of apparatus, such as a bucket sprayer, 
knapsack sprayer, barrel sprayer, and perhaps others. 

(7) Remove borers from peaches, apples, pears, plums, and cherries. 
This should be practiced until students are familiar with all details. 

(8) Let students secure apple seeds from cider miUs. Prepare them for 
planting and plant a row or more in the garden for future use in grafting 
or budding. 

(9) Secure plum pits, peach pits, and perhaps cherry pits for the growing 
of stocks. Stratify these in the fall for winter freezing. 

(10) Plant pits of the stone fruits that have been stratified over the winter 
for growing of the stocks in rows in the garden. 

(11) In June practice budding the stocks of stone fruits and of apple 
seedling stocks. Use dormant buds from scions which have been held in storage 
in a cellar in wet sawdust. 

(12) In September give similar budding practice, using buds from scions 
of the current season's growi:h. In this and in the preceding exercise contests 
in skill and speed may be conducted. 

(13) Let students have practice in propagating plants by tip layering, 
mound layering, and vine layering. 

(14) Exercises in the division of roots can best be taught when plants 
are being transplanted in the fall or spring. Use red raspberries, blackberries, 
currants, gooseberries, or any that are available. 

(15) Students should have practice in all details of the care and rnanage- 
ment of a strawberry patch at the school. These exercises should include 
propagation and setting, control of runners, fighting enemies, judging maturity 
of fruits for different purposes, harvesting, sorting, and rrarketing. 

(16) Let students have practice in judging maturity of crops of all fruits. 
Consider the use to be made of the crop in each case — whether to be shipped, 
sold locally, used at home, or preserved for winter. 

(17) An exercise in trellising and tying up grape vines is necessary in 
teaching these methods. 

(18) Practice the sorting and packing of fruits of aU kinds. LTse various 
forms of packs, suiting each to the kind of market. 

(19) The winter storage of apples includes lessons which should be taught 
by practice. 

Trips to Neighborir.g Orchards. — Students should be given 
considerable drill and practice in orchards of the neighborhood 
(Figs. 72 and 73). There are also many lessons to be studied re- 
garding methods of operation and management by owners. In 
planning an orchard-study trip let as m.any of the details as pos- 
sible be worked out in advance. Have some definite purposes in 
view in going to the orchard. For example, if the owner of the 
orchard is to be spraying, the instructor of the class may arrange 
with him to let the class have a deinonstration lesson in spraying. 
Perhaps the school equipment may be used in the work. The owner 
'of the orchard should, of course, pay for the spray materials used. 
Probably the farmer would supply the team also if needed. 

In planning the trip make an outline of the points to be studied 
en route, before the spraying begins at the orchard, dming the 
sprajdng operation, and after the spraying. 



188 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



Some of the points to be studied are the following: (1) Suitable 
season for spraying for the purposes in view. (2) Amount of mate- 
rial required for the orchard to be sprayed. (3) Cost of material. 
(4) Best apparatus to use. (5) Type of nozzle best for the purpose. 
(6) Conditions of wind and sunshine favorable for spraying. (7) 
Combinations of material to be used for the insects and diseases of 
the orchard at this time. (8) Examine the orchard for evidences of 
insect pests and diseases. (9) Evidences that the orchard has been 
properly pruned and sprayed previously. (10) Evidences of the 
forthcoming fruit crop. (11) Proper distribution of spray material. 
(12) Thoroughness of spraying. (13) Criticisms of the spraying. 



Fig. 



Fig. 73. 








Fig. 72. — Young people are apt to feel overbiiidened when set to in'iining an old, badly- 
neglected orchard. Have some one state the main principles to be remembered while they 

are at work. (G. R. Ransom, Okla.) 
Fig. 7.3. — Do not allow such severe "dehorning" unless the tree is greatly devitalized. Com- 
pare with the same trees before pruning in Fig. 72. 

(14) How soon can results be positively determined? (15) What 
suggestions can you give to the owner for loetter results in the 
future? (16) What fm-ther spraying will you recommend for 
this season? 

The class should make a study of the owner's orchard project 
so far as possible on this trip. Determine his methods of fertiUzing, 
cultivating, and priming. His whole system of management in 
picking, packing, sorting, and storing may come in for study if time, 
will permit. 

Other Orchard Trips. — A number of orchards in the neighbor- 
hood may be visited, but each time a definite lesson and perhaps 
a new one should be planned. The main purpose of a trip may be 



TRIPS TO HOME GARDENS 



189 



for practice in pruning of either young or old trees. Much time 
should not be consumed by repeating the same kind of lesson often, 
but each student should get sufficient practice in one or two trips 
to fix well one particular lesson or method in his mind. 

Spraying with Bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead after the 
peaches have formed, for the pm'pose of fighting curculio and 
brown rot (Fig. 63), may be a lesson distinct from winters praying 
with Ume-sulfur (Figs. 74 and 75). 

Perhaps the orchard trip may be taken at picking time, and then 
varieties, ripeness, management of pickers, picking utensils, pack- 
ing methods, and marketing may be objects of study (Fig. 76). 




Fig. 7-1. — Winter spra>ang of apple trees for San Jose scale and fungous diseases; home 
project work, Virginia. (J. B. Roller.) 

Trips to Small Fruit Gardens. — ^ Valuable lessons can be learned 
by studying farmers' projects in growing raspberries, blackbemes, 
or other bush fruits. Special strawberry growers may also be visited. 
If there are commercial vineyards in the region, trips should be 
made to study the projects in grape growing. On a strawberry 
trip, for example, let students take note of the suitability of the 
crop to the soil; methods of propagation of plants; time and 
method of setting plants; methods of controlling runners; cultiva- 
tion; materials and methods of mulching; harvesting; marketing; 
varieties grown; cost of each of these operations; prices received 
for fruits; use of by-products, and chief enemies. 

Trips to Home Gardens. — One to two trips to well-planned 
home gardens may be made at different seasons of the year — one 
perhaps in late spring after the garden is well up, and another in 



190 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 




Fig. 75. — Spraying with lime-sulfur all day in the winter, by boys, is posisible only when there 

IS hope for a good profit from the project. Spraying would be easier and more thorough if 

the pruning were done first. (A. W. Hand.) 




^}^l- '^- — Students sliould study in the orchard with the instructor such things as winter 
killing, frost injury, bud and fruit development, variety differences, needs for cultivation 
and fertihzing, and need for summer pruning. (C. H. Hanson, Minn., and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 



QUESTIONS FOR AN ORCHARD SURVEY 191 

the fall before many of the crops have been harvested for winter. 
During spring trips the points to be studied are : Size of the garden 
with reference to the number of people in the household; variety 
of vegetables grown; plan for succession of crops; examples of com- 
panion cropping; plan of the garden with reference to cultivation 
and management; location of perennials, long-season annuals, and 
short-season annuals; plans for trellising, staldng, pruning, spray- 
ing, and fertilizing. 

The fall trip should consider, in addition to some of the above 
points, such things as storage, cleaning up garden, fall plow- 
ing, winter cover crops, fall garden crops, and results of the 
year's garden. 

Trips to Market Gardens. — In regions where it is possible to 
find truck growers or market gardeners, suitable trips should be 
planned to study their special crops, their methods of growing the 
crops, their utiUzation of garden areas, systems of irrigation, if used, 
methods of harvesting and marketing, prices received, yield of 
crops, maintenance of fertility of soils, composting of manure, 
transportation problems, etc. 

Trips to Study Landscape Gardening, — It is important, when 
taking trips to orchards, gardens, and other places, to study the prob- 
lems of landscape gardening along public highways, along private 
places, and in parks if possible. Much value can be gained by 
utilizing in this way the time in traveling during all agricultural 
or horticultural trips. 

Different types of landscape gardening may be located and 
special trips taken to them if time will allow. If so, drawings and 
notes should be taken and trips should be made as valuable as 
possible. Places that are' improperly planned might be replanned 
with profit. 

An Orchard Survey. — Early in the study of orcharding, or 
before it actually begins, the class and the instructor should to- 
gether make a survey of the orchard interests of the region. This 
may serve as a basis for planning the educational campaigns for the 
class studies, for the field trips, for practice work, etc. 

Questions for an Orchard Survey.^ — I^et questions be clear and 
direct. They should be so formed as to let the answers be brief 
and easy. If the questions are on two sides of the card, it need not 
be large. These may be kept for future study, for tabulation, and 

- See topics for farm surveys in Chapters V to VIII, and X to XII. 



192 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

for summarizing in any way desired. The chief points to be in- 
cluded are here given: 

Name. Address. 

Kind and number of trees. Ages of trees. 

General conditions. Clean tillage or sod. 

Intercropping. High heading or low heading. 

Pruning close or slight. Character of soil. 

Slope of land. Cover crops. 

Green manure. Commercial fertilizers. 

Barnyard manure. Chief orchard pests. 

Remedies used. _ Largest yields and when. 
Methods of harvesting. • Losses from pests not controlled. 

Uses of main crop. Uses of by-products. 

Methods of storing. General criticisms of orchard. 

Best points observed. Bad points observed. 

Other Horticultural Surveys. — Make similar surveys for bush 
fruits; for strawberries; for vineyards; for home gardens; for truck 
and market gardens. 

It may be worth while to make surveys of the ornamental 
planting done in the last few years on home grounds. This could 
be very profitable. It should cover the number and kinds of vines 
planted; places where planted; ninnl)er and kinds of ornamental 
shrubs planted; style of planting; number and kinds of ornamental 
trees planted; number and kinds of evergreens planted; efforts to 
obtain lawns and the success of these efforts. 

Use of Charts in Teaching Horticulture.^ — A few horticultural 
charts are on the market and should be obtained by the schools 
that can afford them. In some cases these are parts of general 
sets of agricultural charts. 

The school should make a number of charts by using photo- 
graphs, drawings and illustrations, clippings from bulletins and mag- 
azines. Have suitable wording on each of these and plan the series 
before making so that the subject matter of each chart will be 
unified and not too complex. Such charts are very useful in class 
work, and comnumity meetings, farmers' institutes, conventions, etc. 

Horticultural Lantern Slides.^ — If the school is equipped to 
make its own lantern shdes or can have them made locally, a num- 
ber of suitable subjects may be obtained from the region. They 
will be of much more value than slides from other regions made by 
commercial companies. Lantern slides purchased from various 
supply houses, either colored or plain, may be used to good 
advantage in the school work and in community meetings. 

3 See also Chapter XVI. 



A BEAUTIFYING PROJECT 193 

Stereoscopic Views and Pictures.* — Many horticultural views 
for use with the stereoscope are sold by supply houses. These 
cover nearly all phases of fruit growing, garden and landscape 
work. Usually they show results rather than operations. 

Local pictures should be taken with the camera to show opera- 
tions in all lines of work. These may be taken with a small camera, 
and may be used either in their original size or may be projected 
by a reflectoscope, or they may be enlarged and used from time to 
time in teaching horticultural methods. 

Home Projects in Fruit Growing. — ^Teaching by doing is best 
exemplified in the home project work. A few suggestions for the 
topics and scope of projects in fruit growing are here given: 

1. Start with a new setting of raspberries and grow the crop for two or 
three years. , 

2. Set and grow a patch of blackberries for two or three years. 

3. Start and grow a patch of currants or gooseberries, or both, for two or' 
three years. 

4. Care for and manage a bearing vineyard for one year. 

5. Start a young orchard and care for it two years — apples, pears, or 
l^eaches. 

6. Manage and care for a bearing orchard for one year, preferably in early 
bearing hfe. 

7. A short project may consist of harvesting and marketing a crop of 
peaches for one season. 

8. Renovate an old orchard and care for it one or rnore years. 

9. Grow a crop of strawberries for two years. This may be confined to 
one year by starting one patch and managing a bearing patch at the same time. 
Similar combinations could be made in the projects with bush fruits. 

10. Prune, spray, and care for the home orchard for one year. Let this 
include all kinds of orchard and bush fruits. 

11. Start a nursery of fruit trees and care for it one or two years. 
Home Projects with Vegetables. — 1. Raise one acre or more of Irish 

l)otatoes for profit. 

2. A larger or smaller area may be used for similar projects with each of 
the following: Sweet potatoes, onions from seed, garlic, onions from sets, 
celery, cabbage, snap beans, garden peas, lima beans, turnips and turnip 
greens, sweet corn, watermelons, cauhflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, 
and other crops. 

3. Raise hotbed plants for sale, and market the crops. This may include 
any plants suitable for transplanting, as cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, egg- 
plant, tomatoes, head lettuce, sweet potatoes, etc. 

4. Grow garden crops on the same area in succession for one season, as 
garden peas, followed by snap beans or pole beans. Use any other succession 
cropping when desired. 

5. Grow a general market garden for one season, using as many crops as 
may be found profitable on the area assigned. 

A Beautifying Project. — Plan projects in the improvement of 
home grounds for the sake of making, the place more valuable (Fig. 

4 See also Chapter XVI. 
13 



194 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



77). Elements in the improvement may include replanting of the 
yards, planting lawns, trellising when advisable, draining, laying 



f 




Fig. 77. 



-Teach students to beautify their homes. A few trees, shrubs, ami vines umild 
make this North Dakota homestead more inviting. (A. A. Sather.) 



out and constructing walls, constructing and repainting fences, 
planting of shrubbery, planting of vines, painting and whitewashing 



- 


~~ 


Zi 


f 



mHnI IIWW WI^Km SitM| WKti ^^m- 



i i-l'i tXIC ^TT"- 







Fig. 78. — Give students training in planting shrubs, vnnes, trees, and flowers on the school 
campus. (A. A. Sather.) 

wherever needed. Photographs should always be taken before and 
after each improvement project. Contests may be run in con- 



TEACH GARDENING TO SMALL CHILDREN 195 

nection with each of them. Vakiations of the farm before and after 
should be made. The profits from such improvements may thus 
be determined. Some people make good incomes by buying places, 
improving them, and selling them again. 

A group project may be pursued at the school in planting and 
otherwise beautifying the school grounds (Fig. 78). ; 

Teaching Horticulture in Rural Schools. — Much of the equip- 
ment and land laboratory mentioned in this chapter may be lacking 
at nearly all rural schools. The practice work, however, may be on 
farms near the school (Fig. 79). If conveyances are available, the 
school may be easily taken to orchards, vineyards, and other small 
fruit plantations. Much of the work of the pupils in the school 
should consist of their home projects and the lessons drawn from 
them. The school surveys can be as well conducted by riii-al 
schools as by high schools and colleges. The rural school grounds 
should be improved: Plan and construct roads and walks, select 
and plant flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees; trelUs, prune, spray, 
and otherwise care for the growing things. 

School Gardening at Rural Schools. — It is usually noc advis- 
able for rm-al schools to attempt to maintain vegetable gardens 
throughout the summer. For small children who do not already 
know simple garden operations, small plots of vegetables may 
be grown to teach these methods. The students should continue 
to practice these operations in their home gardens. Let the les- 
sons given on the school garden plots be instructive and not mere 
drills or drudgery. 

Students should become familiar with the use of seed catalogues. 
There are new varieties appearing from time to time to which their 
attention should be called. Let students grow in the school gardens 
things which have not become familiar to them. In some sections 
Swiss chard. New Zealand spinach, kohl-rabi and globe artichoke 
are among uncommon plants which may be worth trying. In rural 
schools it is important to stress the practice of companion cropping 
and succession cropping. 

Teach Gardening to Small Children. — With pupils as young as 
the elementary grades much skill in teaching gardening is required. 
They need to be shown how to do even the very simple things 
such as raking, making drill rows, dropping seeds, covering, firm- 
ing the soil, thinning, and weeding. 

In the winter time small children may make a model of a home 
garden on sand tables. Much ingenuity may be used in this work. 



196 



HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 



The principles of gardening may be developed if some effort is 
made to do so. 




Fig 70. — The rural school toacluT as ufli as the cilv f;radp f(>aili<r niav supervise the 
home garden work of students. (T. G. Brown, Wis., and W. V. Longley, Minn.) 

Elementary children should have pi-actice in drawing garden plans. 
Let one line on a paper represent each r-ow of the garden. Then on 
this row write or print neatly the names of crops to be grown in the 



SHORT COURSES IN HORTICULTURE 197 

row. They can show what crops will follow others in the season in 
each row. These garden plans maj^ be used in their home projects, 
or they may be compared and the best selected for use in planning 
a model home garden at school for practice in different operations. 

Children in the grades will take much delight and get much 
value from fighting various insects that are enemies of the garden 
and orchard. Suitable breeding cages may be easily devised for 
this purpose and may be kept in the windows of the school-room. 
When the transformations of the insects are observed children will 
never forget them. 

A very good form of exercise for grade children in the fall is the 
collection of garden seeds in envelopes. Teach the pupils to select 
seeds from plants which are immune to disease and are in other 
ways the best plants. Seeds must be properly labeled and after 
drying may be stored where they will not be attacked by mice 
and weevils. 

In the winter, primary pupils should have practice in seed test- 
ing, making pasteboard boxes, preparing tin cans for growing 
tomatoes, making sieves, flats, and other simple equipment. 

Many nature lessons connected mth garden materials and 
specimens should be given to pupils of the lower grades. 

Short Courses in Horticulture. — High schools and agricultural 
colleges frequently offer short courses in horticulture to farmers and 
others who are preparing to take up such work. The plans for such 
courses should be very specific. They should be worked out to the 
minutest detail in advance. A careful study of the subjects to 
be included in such short courses must be made by the person in 
charge. Omit nonessentials and do not plan to give the so-called 
prerequisites or fundamental sciences as would be required for 
long courses. 

Most of the work in short courses should be the art rather than 
the science of horticulture. Let all lessons be founded upon prac- 
tices and methods rather than upon theories. 

After the subject matter has been planned, then a definite line 
of methods should be formulated to be followed during the course. 
Gather together all illustrative material in the way of slides, 
charts, pictures, materials, and apparatus. 

The season of the year will determine largely the operations 
which can be carried on. Spare no pains to have every operation 
conducted in the best way, and have as many actual operations as 
possible. For example, if outdoor weather does not allow spray- 



198 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

ing, the operations of making and diluting materials and using the 
apparatus may be demonstrated indoors. The instructors in charge 
should feel it incumbent upon them to have all lessons thoroughly- 
illustrated and demonstrated to the people who are taking the 
short courses. No time should be wasted. Many demonstrations 
can be set up in advance of the hour scheduled, and thus more 
demonstrations may be given in the same length of time. 

Another principle in the teaching of students attending short 
courses in horticulture is that each lesson must be impressed upon 
the students in several ways. Better teach the same lessons several 
times in different ways than to give several lessons poorly. If a 
student attending a course carries away a few ideas well fixed so that 
he will actually practice them the rest of his life, the course will have 
done more good than if the student feels he is getting more than he 
can remember. No instructor should be allowed to exhibit himself 
as a walldng cyclopedia with many facts to give to his students. 
He should not try to show off his great amount of Icnowledge. The 
best teachers for short courses are those who impress their teach- 
ing well by homely illustrations, by well-prepared demonstrations, 
by practice, by drills, and by applying the lessons to the farm 
projects of the members of the class. 

Types of Short Courses in Horticulture. — Short courses are of 
many different lengths. They may be offered to adults who can 
attend only at night for a week or two. Or they may be given 
for a few weeks both day and night. Or they may continue for a 
few months in some suitable time of the year when students can 
best attend. Young and old farmers often find it possible to 
attend short courses during the winter season. City people 
often plan to attend short courses in the summer, as at Chau- 
tauqua courses. 

Horticulture on the Reading Table.'' — It is well to have on a 
shelf or on a reading table a few of the best horticultural periodicals 
that may be consulted from time to time by students and instruc- 
tors. These should include publications which relate to fruit 
growing, gardening, landscape work, and nursery work. Some 
general periodicals which have good departments devoted to 
horticulture may be included. 

Let miscellaneous horticultural publications be placed on the 
reading table. Many seed houses issue good catalogues and other 
pamphlets which are worthy of a place here. The spraying com- 

6 See also Chapter XVII. 



REFERENCE LIBRARY IN HORTICULTURE 



199 



panies will be glad to furnish their catalogues regularly for this 
purpose. Obtain also the literature of manufacturers of insecti- 
cides, fertilizers, and packages for marketing. 

Using Supplementary Matter in Horticulture. — Students may 
be encouraged to call the attention of the class to the best matter 
appearing in the periodicals, bulletins, or other matter on the reading 
table. Some articles may occasionally be assigned as topics for the 
students to report to the class. 

Reference Library in Horticulture. — In Chapter XVII are 




Fig. 80. 



-Students with their instructor laying out and planting a peach orchard. (H. N. 
Loomis, Mass.) 



given the best methods of keeping horticultural books and bulletins. 
(See lists in Appendix). These should be used abundantly by the 
students in looking up the topics for studying their individual home 
projects. They should also be used in preparing practice for rec- 
itation in the class-room. They should also be used in looking up 
principles and methods to supplement the text on all points. Some 
of them may be helpful in suggesting or giving details of exercises 
in the field or laboratory. 

The reference books and bulletins may be consulted by people 
of the neighborhood, and in some cases perhaps may be drawn for 
use at their homes. Much time of the instructor maybe saved 
by referring inquirers to bulletins and books on the reference shelves 
of the school. Some of these may be led to secure the bulletins 
and books for their own use at home. 



200 



lUAX 1XJ I^EACH HORTICULTURE 



Things to Discover in Horticulture. — Students of horticulture 
should be induced to discover for themselves many things which 




Fig. 81. — Planting youna fruit trccri on the school laud lal) .latory. 1 pprr, .sliouiiiK how 
error might arise through the use of a carelessly made planting board. Lower, horticulture 
class demonstrating to other students a proper method of tree planting. (H. A. Savage.) 

the best horticulturists are required to discover. Some of these 
things arc here suggested: 

1. Whf^n are fruit buds first developed on young peach trees, and where 
are they placed? 

2. Discover the effects on fruit buds and shoot buds of the lowest winter 
temperature and of sleet storms. 



HORTICULTURAL OBSERVATIONS 



201 



3. Discover how bright sunshine on winter snows may develop sun scald 
on tree trunks, and find a remedy if possible. 

4. Discover the bad effects of high heading of orchard trees; also of 
low heading. 

5. Discover the bad effects of late spring frosts in orchards and vineyards. 

Horticultural Observations. — Teach students to make observa- 
tions for themselves and report them to their parents and to 
the class. These observations may be connected with their own 




Fi(i. S2. -Studfiits and farmers should be tausht how to cure and store sweet potatoes in a 

house with a good ventilation system. Make a lantern slide of such a subject to show at 

community meetings. (P. L. Guilbeau, La.) 

projects, wth the projects of neighbors, along the highways and 
byways, and on school grounds. Some lines of observation are 
here suggested: 

1. The good effects of winter mulching of strawberries. 

2. Make a chart of the observed blooming dates of many varieties of sev- 
eral kinds of fruits. These charts should include dates of the first bloom, full 
bloom, and last bloom for each. 

3. Observe what varieties of individual trees bear heavy crops of blos- 
soms without bearing much fruit, thus observing what varieties will not 
pollinate themselves. 

4.' Observe the first appearance of shoots on different plants and aT-range 
a Ust of those most susceptible to injury by late frosts. 



202 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

5. Observe in the winter how buds and small twigs are protected. 

6. Observe in the fall what plants continue growth until winter; and 
observe the effects on this of growing winter cover crops consisting of nitrogen 
gatherers, as clover and vetch. 

7. Observe what varieties are most immune to special diseases, as brown 
rot in the peach orchard and plimi orchard; wilt in tomatoes; yellows in cab- 
bage; bitter rot in apples. 

8. Determine by observation the effects of special fertilizers on growth 
and fruit bearing in vegetable gardens ; in orchards and small fruit plantations. 

Things to Do in Horticulture. — Young people studying horti- 
culture should be taught to feel the responsibility of doing things 
at the proper time. They should also be taught the most careful 
and correct methods of doing things. A number of the methods to 
be taught in the vegetable garden have been mentioned in this 
chapter. Teach how to lay out orchards (F'ig. 80). Teach the very 
best methods of planting a tree or shrub (Fig. 81). Teach how to 
dig a tree, bush, or vine to get the best roots. Teach how to trans- 
plant an evergreen without disturbing the soil about the roots. 
Teach how to plant cuttings that are to take root in the soil. Teach 
how to make cuttings of all plants that will readily reproduce 
themselves by cuttings. Teach how to prune mthout the loss of 
sap. Teach how to topwork fruit trees. Teach how to dig for 
borers at the proper time. Teach how to protect trees from borers. 
Teach how to catch rabbits or other enemies of young trees. Teach 
how to attract the birds. Teach how to prevent birds from 
eating cherries without kilhng the birds — by watering and feeding. 
Teach how to cut sod and lay sod. Teach how to make trellises and 
contours. Teach how to tliin fruit. Teach how to pick fruit prop- 
erly. Teach how to manage fruit pickers. Teach how to sell 
crops. Teach how to store crops (Fig. 82). 

Things to Solve in Horticulture.^ — There are many puzzles 
which present themselves to the horticulturist. Students should 
learn to solve these as clearly and as correctly as they can. 
Some of these puzzles are here suggested, but no instructor 
need try to invent the puzzles. He should watch for them, 
however, and assign them to students to solve. No better train- 
ing can be found. 

1. How do varieties become mixed in orchards, fruit plantations, and 
gardens? 

2. Learn to name puzzling varieties which present themselves from tiine 
to time at the home or on neighboring places. 

3. What fertihzers would be best under special conditions of growth or 
fruit bearing? 

4. Should the strawberry patch be kept another year? 



EXERCISES 203 

5. What methods of rejuvenation should be applied to the old orchard? 

6. What would be the best intercropping for the small fruit plantation 
or orchard? 

7. How can intercropping be conducted and yet protect the soil from 
washing during the winter season? 

8. What is the best use to be made of the vegetable garden area during 
the winter? 

9. What cover crops are best for your home conditions? 

10. When should the mulch over strawberries or other vegetation be 
removed in the spring? 

11. What enemies are causing certain troubles? 

12. What remedies can be used to prevent the production of too small 
peaches or too small apples? 

EXERCISES 

1. Make a number of grafts and buds, select the best of each type, varnish 
these with a thin coat, and mount them on a heavy cardboard for illustration 
in your class work. 

2. If possible, make a collection of grafting knives, budding knives, and 
pruning knives and mount them on a heavy cardboard for class-room use. 

3. Make a collection of examples of good and bad pruning, varnish these 
and mount them on heavy cardboard for your class-room . 

4. Obtain the material and make grafting wax and pull it according to 
directions in horticultural books. 

5. Wind a ball of No. 18 knitting cotton into a skein eight or ten inches 
long, cut this at both ends and dip in melted grafting wax. The strands are 
thus made ready to use in grafting and budding (as directed for students). 

6. Make a collection of samples of orchard soils and subsoils. 

7. Make a list of annual vines aii^ state the kind of surface or trellis to 
which each is adapted. 

8. Make a similar list of perennial vines. 

9. Make a list of the native shrubs of your state suitable for use in planting 
on home or school grounds. 

10. Construct a rack suitable for the keeping of garden tools for a class 
of twelve students. 

11. Construct a hotbed or coldframe and start it at the proper season. 

12. Read over the twenty-eight lines of laboratory and practice work, 
in fruit growing, suggested in this chapter and perform as many of these as 
is practical. 

13. Do likewise for the exercises in gardening. 

14. Do likewise for the outdoor garden exercises. 

15. Do likewise for the outdoor exercises in orcharding. 

16. Conduct an orchard siu'vey or a small fruit survey for horticultural 
teaching and reference. 

17. Conduct a trip to study a neighborhood orchard, or some similar trip. 

18. Take a number of photographs of horticultural subjects and mount 
these for class-room use. 

19. Make lantern shdes of some of the best of these. 

20. Plan the details for a year's work in a beautifying project. 

21. Make a full program for a three days' short course in fruit growing. 

22. Make a lesson plan according to the suggestions in Chapter IV for a 
recitation in small fruit growing. 

23. Make a similar plan for a lesson in gardening. 

24. Make a similar plan for a lesson in orcharding. 

25. Read the topics for debate in Chapter XI, then make a list of eight 
questions for debate in horticulture. 



204 HOW TO TEACH HORTICULTURE 

QUESTIONS 

1. What are the subjects usually includetl in a full course in horticulture for 

high schools? 

2. In what regions would you give some attention to nut culture? To for- 

estry? To landscape gardening? 

3. Why does the work in small fruits lend itself better to home projects than 

does orchard work? 

4. Under what conditions is the reverse true? 

5. Tell how to store roots, scions, and other material to be kept fresh for 

winter practice work. 

6. At what season would you have students practice the home mixing of 

fertilizers for horticultural work? 

7. Give a list of outdoor equipment for teaching horticulture. 

8. Describe a good way of keeping garden tools orderly. 

9. Distinguish between a hotbed and a coldframe. 

10. Would you make a school greenhouse? Give reasons for your answer. 

1 1 . Give reasons for using the topical method in class-room work in horticulture. 

12. Give directions for keeping notebooks on laboratory work. 

13. Give a long list of laboratory exercises and practice work in fruit growing. 

14. Give a long hst of laboratory exercises and practice work in gardening. 

15. Give a long hst of outdoor gardening exercises. 

16. Select from the Ust of outdoor exercises in orcharding and fruit growing, 

things which would be valuable in your state. 

17. Give a hst of points to be studied on a trip to a neighboring vineyard, or 

to a strawberry plantation. 

18. Give a hst of points to be studied on a trip to a neighboring orchard. 

19. What value can be obtained by taking students on a trip to a good home 

garden? 

20. What good can be gained from a trip to study landscape gardening? 

21. Give the chief points to be studied in an orchard survey. In a garden 

survey. 

22. Make a suggestive list of suitable charts for teaching horticulture. 

23. Give a list of suitable projects in small fruits; a list in gardening. 

24. Suggest a list of home projects in orcharding which could be completed 

within one or two years. 

25. How could a student make a landscape gardening project profitable? 

26. Give suggestions for the teaching of fruit growing in rural schools; in town 

grades. 

27. Give directions for teaching gaixlening to small children. 

28. Why should 'the agricultural school hold a winter .short course in fruit 

growing? Why in home gardening? 

29. Give a list of suitabk' books for the reference shelves in fruit growing; 

in gardening. 

30. Mention things to discover in horticulture. 

31. Mention observations to make in horticulture. 

32. Give a list of things to learn how to do in horticulture. 

33. Give a list of problems to be solved in horticulture. 



CHAPTER X 

HOW TO TEACH FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, 
AND SHOP WORK 

"The specific aim of the work in farm engineering is to prepare young 
people so to plan, locate, construct, and maintain farm buildings, fences, 
roads, and drainage (or irrigation) systems; and so to select, operate, and main- 
tain farm machinery and mechanical equipment as to contribute most highty 
to the profit and pleasure of farming." — Report of Committee on Agriculture 
of the N. E. A. Commission on Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

Every farmer must from the very nature of his business be a 
mechanic. It is self-evident that he ought to be a good mechanic. 
The interest which most students naturally have in mechanical 
things shows that they can be trained readily and successfully to be 
good mechanics. High schools and colleges offering general courses 
in farm mechanics do well to place these courses in the early years 
of the training. 

Content of the Course. — The whole realm of farm engineering, 
farm mechanics, and farm shop work may be included in this 
course. Most of the exercises included in such a course are in 
themselves nonproductive. They are rather a means to an end. 
They are involved in productive projects with both animals and 
plants. In the broadest sense this course should include the study 
of farm machinery, farm motors, farm buildings, rural sanitation, 
road construction and maintenance, simple blacksmithing, pipe 
fitting, rope work, land measurement, terracing, leveling practice, 
drainage and irrigation. 

Special Methods in Teaching the Subjects. — ^In the long 
courses in high schools and in college courses, principles as well as 
practice should be so well taught that the students are able to adapt 
methods to new conditions. After such a course, it should not be 
necessary for students to work by "rule of thumb. " They should 
understand how to adapt the principles to their own home con- 
ditions and projects. For example, when the matter of farm power 
is being taught, the principles of working problems in belting, 
pulleys, speed, and power should be well understood. 

When rafters for building are being cut, the methods of cut- 
ting under all ordinary conditions should be learned instead of 
following patterns. 

In road construction the principles of drainage, foundations, 

205 



206 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

and wearing surfaces should be well understood. Do not merely 
learn how to operate in one particular case. In building concrete 
floors for barns the conditions which will prevent the accimiulation 
of moisture under all circumstances should be learned. Do not 
conclude that one example will suffice under all conditions. 

When studying the repair and adjustment of farm machinery, 
the principles of transmission and their application in complex 
machinery should be well understood (Fig. 93) . When farm motors 



Fig. 83. 



Fig. 84. 




Fk.. ^3. — A farm shoi^-room showing very good (Miuipinrtit. (I,, A. Henkc.) 
Fig. 84. — Iowa students making racks for drying seed corn. (Fonda School.) 



are being studied, the principles of the gasoline engine should be so 
well, understood that the student can as easily repair one common 
form as another. 

Equipment for Farm Shop Work. — Schools offering courses in 
farm shop work should have a lighted room Avith sufficient heat to 
allow the work to be carried on even in severe winter weather. 
There should be simple wood-working benches with vises (Figs. 
83 and 84). 

There should be a few good carpentry tools, including cross-cut 
hand saws, rip saws, and perhaps a large wood saw, hammers, 
chisels of one or two widths, braces and set of bits for wood, a jack- 
plane, miter-box, framing-square, tri-square, hatchet, drawing- 
knife, spoke-shave. 

For metal working, one forge and a heavy anvil should usually 
be provided in the school shop. The necessary forge tools should 
include tongs, shovel, poker. Anvil tools should include a hardie, 



EQUIPMENT FOR TEACHING FARM POWER WORK 207 

one or two types of hammers, cold-chisel. On the wall should be 
placed a press-drill provided with a set of bits. On the blacksmith 
bench there should be a good machinist's vise with pipe jaw and 
anvil back. Have sets of taps and dies. There should be supplies 
of bolts of several types and sizes. Square, round, and flat steel 
bars should be ready for use in repair of machinery. 

For soldering and tinning, have simple and inexpensive outfits. 

For pipe fitting, a die stock and set of several sizes of dies, 




Fig. 85. — Students licint; taught to clean, oil, and repair farm liarness. (H. N. Loomis, Mass.) 



pipe cutter, pipe wrenches, and suppKes of fittings and pipe of such 
sizes as will be used in various exercises. 

For harness repair work, have leather punches, supplies of rivets, 
sewing clamps, needles, awls, wax, and thread. Provide supplies 
of snaps, buckles, and other harness hardware of the common sizes. 

Equipment forTeaching Farm Power Work — If possible, provide 
an old gasoline engine which can be used to take apart, put together, 
and adjust until all parts are well understood. A gasoline engine 
should be belted to a countershaft which is belted to various 
machines for different farm purposes. These may be for sawing 
wood, pumping water, grinding tools, grinding grain, lighting, etc. 

If convenient, have a windmill for the study of its principles and 
methods of management. This may be omitted in regions where 
windmills are not used. Besides the common gasoline engine, a 
gas tractor should be provided if possible. This may be borrowed 
when it is not possible to own one. 



208 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

A 8teain-l)oiler and stoani-onjiino may bo of service in teaching 
the principles of their opei'ation. Such e(j[uipnient would he most 
valuable in regions where such machines are to be used, as in dairy- 
ing. Have in the shed outside the shop, farm machinery which is 
available for repair work, the study of adjustments, the replacement 
of parts, and the measurement of power. 

Class Work in Farm Mechanics. — Most of the class instruction 
should be with the mechanical devices themselves. Demonstrations 
in testing the power of engines is an example of good material 
for class instruction. 



¥■ 


1 


-vi; 1 _ 


p M 


/^I^^W^^ 


mM 


^^H^ T Jftf^^r^ '^ ^j^M^B^^ 


^Hmk. fi^ 1 



Fig. 86. — Teaoh studpnts to make rope halters, different kinds of knots and splices. (L. A. 

Henke.) 

When a class is to be given a laboratory exercise in mending 
harness (Fig. 85), a demonstration in the methods of doing this 
with proper explanation and discussion by members of the class 
should precede the laboratory work. Similar instructions should 
precede laboratory work in pipe fitting, soldering, tempering, 
framing buildings, making concrete, and installing watering sys- 
tems, or lighting systems. 

Let all the class work precede or follow the practice and lab- 
oratory work. When general principles are to be taught to long 
course students, these principles may be stated and worked out by 
membei's of the class just before or just after the work with these 
materials (Fig. 86). 

Revi(^ws and quizzes upon lessons learned in the actual work in 
the practicums and laboratory exercises should be given from time 



FARM MECHANICS AND SHOP WORK 



209 



to time. Such reviews will lead the students into habits of keeping 
their minds upon their work. Students that do not keep their 
minds upon their problems while at work will soon find they are 
missing much that other students are gaining. 




Fig. 87. — A few have combined the hog oiler and self-feeder in their pig project work. Every 

pig is thus oiled at little expense aiid trouble. The oiled pad is placed where it will rub their 

cars, head, and neck when they are eating. (After A. W. Turner in Wallace's Farmer.) 

Farm Mechanics and Shop Work. — If students pursuing the 
course are all from farms or are conducting farm projects, the first 
and most important lines of shop work should be made up of those 




TrMPe/fTVB. 



tvooo-wo/f'fWG Br/vc». 



e^/fTH rwo/f. 



PL/tA/K rioo/f. 




Fig. 88. — Floor plan of individual workshop for a boy's home shop. (U. S. D. A.) 

problems with which the individual members of the class are 
directly concerned. If one or more members of the class are con- 
ducting a poultry project and are in need of simple poultry houses 
such as movable colony houses, they should be taught to construct 
these, and may do this either at the school during laboratory 
periods or at their homes as part of their project work. If desired, 

14 



210 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 




all members of the class may be given the same exercise (see figures 
in Poultry Chapter) . 

In the following list a number of projects are mentioned, and 
with each is a list of several kinds of shop or mechanical work to be 
performed as short exercises or problems by students while pur- 
suing those projects. 

In poultry projects: Colony houses, dry mash hoppers, trap 

nests, common nests, dropping boards, roosts, coops, and brooders. 

In dairy projects: Mending and soldering seams of dairy 

utensils, repa-iring separators, mending strainers, making new 

handles, milking stools, feed-record 
boards, weight-record boards, test-bottle 
drain-boards, milk-bottle carriers, stan- 
chions for feeding calves, stanchions for 
tying cows, scale crane for weighing 
feed, manure trucks, concrete floors in 
barns, feed chutes in barns, milk houses, 
ice houses. 

In beef cattle projects: Feed 
troughs for corn and other concen- 
trates, feeding sheds, feed racks, 
weighing pens for scales, manure car- 
riers, concrete floors. 

In swine projects: Movable pig cots 
with or without floors, self -feeding hop- 
pers (Fig. 87), hog oiling devices, dip- 
ping vats, slop troughs, water supply 
lines, hot weather shade cots, mineral 
pits, shipping crates, hurdle fences. 
In sheep projects: Sheds for winter (juarters, concrete or other 
dry floors, racks for roughage to keep wool clean, grain troughs, 
individual lambing pens, lamb creeps, hurdle fences, dipping vats, 
shearuig platforms or tables, shipping crates. 

In mule, horse, or colt projects : Paddocks for mother and foal, 
box stalls, feed boxes, hay racks, braiding manes and tails, splicing 
ropes, making rope halters, making or repairing leather halters 
and harness, splicing chain, making tie posts of concrete, trim- 
ming hoofs, making and setting shoes. 

In horticultural projects: Making labels, plant trays, garden 
stakes, twine winders, garden markers, handles for tools; repairing 
broken tools; sharpening tools; making tool racks; stamping tools 




Fig. 89. — A good drawing for a 
chart to hang in the school shop. 
It shows how to connect pipes so 
as to draw hot water as soon as the 
fire starts. 



WORK AT THE SCHOOL 



211 



with names and numbers; painting and repairing garden imple- 
ments; making shipping crates, bushel measm'es, baskets, fruit 
boxes, and barrels, hotbed frames, hotbed covers; glazing sash; 
building storage cellars; making concrete flower pits; potting 
benches or tables. 

In field crop projects: Cribs, bins, and granaries for storage of 
products; repair of implements used in any project; special devices 
for particular crops, as seed-corn racks, tobacco harvesting racks. 




Fig. 90. — Take students to study country lighting and water-pressure systems. They 
should study them enough to help install them in other country homes. (Fairbanks- 
Morse Co.) 

tobacco barns, deep beds for hauling cotton, grain sieves, bushel 
measurers, weighing places. 

In farm improvement projects: Making concrete walks, 
repairing and constructing fences, building and maintaining 
roads, painting and whitewashing buildings, making gates, building 
implement sheds and hay sheds, repairing gutters, repairing roofs, 
repairing porch and other floors, glazing windows, repairing 
chimneys, moving small buildings, installing farm shops (Fig. 88) , 
repairing and installing water lines, making septic tanks, install- 
ing kitchen sinks and drains, installing water tanks (Fig. 89), in- 
stalling bathroom fixtures, wiring buildings for electric current, 
installing simple lighting systems (Fig. 90), installing farm power. 

Work at the School. — ^Let the bench exercises at the school con- 
sist of making things for use on the farm (Figs. 84, 91, and 111). 
The making of household furniture should seldom find a place in 
the farm shop course of the school. Have machines brought to the 
school for study if possible (Fig. 92) . 



212 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 




Fig. 91. — Farm shop work in ^^ .1 li i The school janitor was an 

experienced carpenter and was put in cliargc ni tlii> r|,i>.- ^C. H. Winkler, W. Va.) 



^^^^^ «'-'^ 




Q 





Fig. 92. — Agricuitural students stmlyiiiK .several types of planters in the school-room. 
These were borrowed for the pmpo.so froni a local dealer. (L. M. Banknight, S. Carolina.) 



Projects in Farm Mechanics and Engineering. — Besides the 
lists of mechanical work suggested in connection with other agri- 



COMMUNITY SURVEYS IN FARM MECHANICS 



213 



cultural projects above, students may take up projects for the sake 
of practice in farm mechanics and engineering. Some lines suitable 
for such projects are: 

1. Terracing and contouring of sloping fields and orchards. 

2. Tile drainage of land. 

3. Planning and installing irrigation systems of various types. 

4. Damming streams and harnessing water power for various purposes. 

5. Surveying to correct or reestablish old boundary Hnes of farms. 

6. Measuring lines and areas of all farm fields, and mapping them. 

7. Measuring farms and subdividing them for division among heirs. 

8. Installing hydrauUc rams. 

Shop Work with Farm Power.— Students should learn to install 
the various tyj^es of engines with or without the use of counter- 




Fio. 9.3. 



-Learning to use such machinery helps to keep boys on the farm. 
Morse Co.) 



(Fairbanks- 



shafts. They should learn to compute the speed of engines and 
figure the size of pulley wheels to give the proper speed of machines 
operated with these engines. They should study gas engines in many 
ways, timing ignition, exhaust on valves, governors, testing the 
brake horse-power. They should be able to solve gas engine troubles, 
operate tractors, and perhaps steam-engines and steam-boilers. 

Community Surveys in Farm Mechanics. — ^The chief needs for 
farm surveys in mechanical lines are: 

(1) To be able to take classes to particular places where certain conditions 
and systems may be illustrated. (2) To be able to refer to particular places 
in the community where certain mistakes have been made or certain good 
things have been accompHshed. (3) To be able to know where certain appa- 
ratus or devices may be located and borrowed for use, or for illustration in 
school instruction. (4) To be able to know the conditions on different farms, 
so that the school and instructor may be able to help or advise members of the 
community more intelligently. 



214 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP ^^•ORK 

Topics for a Survey in Farm Mechanics. — The following 

topics, and perhaps others, may be used on the blanks when 

making a sm'vey in this subject : 

Name. Address. 

Number in household. Size of septic tank, if in. 

Kitchen sink and drain, or not. Bathroom equipment, or not. 

Hot-water system, or not. Water-pressure system, or not. 

Source of water supply. Best possibility for water system, if 

Best possibihty for electric lighting. none is in. 

List of farm buildings. Farm power in or contemplated. 

Construction of size of silo. Size of largest barn. 

Materials used in walks. Concrete floor in barn. 

Materials and condition of fences. Kinds of roads. 

Any tile drainage. Any farm terracing. 

General condition of roofs. Any land irrigation. 

Is machinery housed and cared for? Is painting needed? 

Value of farm machinery. Is machinery well repaired? 

Name and size of tractor, if any. Age of oldest useful machine. 

Aids in Teaching Farm Mechanics.^ — Sets of lantern slides 
on such subjects as the use of concrete on the farm, the use of 
power on the farm, the uses of tractors, manufactvu'e of woven- 
Avire fencing, plans of farm buildings, and others are available, or 
may be made. 

Charts showing the structure of farm buildings, plans of farm 
buildings, step in construction of silos and other buildings, belting 
and shafting systems for special purposes should be either pur- 
chased or made. 

Drawing plans of buildings to be erected by students or others 
in the community is good practice for students. 

Make clippings from catalogues to show types of roofs, shapes 
of windows, and plans of floors. Mount these on large cards for use 
in class work. 

Physics a Basis for Farm Mechanics. — If students have not 
made a study of physics at some time preceding the study of 
farm mechanics and engineering, the elementary principles in those 
phases of physics which underlie farm mechanics should be taught. 
In rural schools this may be very simple indeed. In high schools 
and colleges the curriculum should be planned to allow at least a 
short period of instruction in physics to precede the application 
in farm mechanics. 

When students are pursuing farm mechanics chiefly from the 
standpoint of aid for other project work, they need not put much 
stress upon the principles in physics which underlie the problems in 

1 See also Chapter XVI. 



TRIPS FOR STUDYING FARM MECHANICS 



215 



farm mechanics. The how rather than the why is then uppermost 
in the students' minds. If they are to install electric apparatus 
without having studied the principles and science of »electricity, 
they will be required to follow carefully the directions for instal- 
lation furnished with the apparatus. They will be able to do little 
electric wiring except under the guidance of a competent' instructor 
who is working directly with them. 

Trips for Studying Farm Mechanics, — After the reports from 
community surveys have been examined, a number of trips can be 



Fig. 94 



Fig. 95 




Fig. 94. — Pit silo built under supervision of the school. Students readv to help the owner 

fiU it. (E. H. Thompson, Okla.) 

Fig. 95. — Students should learn to use simple leveling instruments and practice terracing and 

draining of land. (G. S. Boggar, Ark.) 

planned to good advantage and with much profit to the class 
(Fig. 94). Perhaps one trip a week for a number of weeks will be 
profitable. Suggestions for some of these are here given: 

1. Visit a farm having a good gasoline engine (Fig. 93), where a number 
of types of farm machines are driven by it. Study the belting, countershafts 
and systems of pulleys. Many problems may be worked out in such a place. 

2. Visit a farm where a hydraulic ram has been installed. Study the work- 
ing of the ram. Determine the fall from the source of water and detennine the 
height to which water is forced. Note the sizes of pipes used, the amount of 
water received by the ram, and the amount delivered from it. Study the water 
storage in connection with this water system. Make a drawing of the whole 
plan. List the possibility in connection with a system where water may be 
thrown to a suitable height, as with a ram. 

3. Visit other interesting water systems and make careful studies of the 
details. 

4. If some one is installing bathroom fixtures, have the class there at the 
time, if possible, to study the details and methods u.sed. Make drawings to 
show connections, sizes of pipes, ventilation pipes, gas traps, etc. 



216 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

5. WTien farmers want terracing of land, drainage of land, or irrigation 
systems surveyed and planned, let the class, if it needs practice, do this work 
for the farmer (Fig. 95). 

6. When electric wiring is being done at some place, let all the members, 
or those most interested, visit the place and study the methods. They should 
make drawings of the wiring system. Show sizes of wires used, the location 
of switches, the location of fuses, the openings for hght, power, etc. On the 
same trip they may be able to study hghting and electric power systems. 

7. When a septic tank is to be constructed, let the class visit the place 
and take part in the work. The inflow and outflow pipes should be planned 
and constructed; the trap or traps used should be located; the drainage pipe 
and its connection with the house fixtures should be planned and drawn 
or installed. 

8. If the school is not equipped with all desired types of machinery to 
dismantle, assemble, and adjust, the class should visit places where suitable 
machines for this work may be used (Fig. 9(i). Perhaps these will be found at 
farms in the neighborhood. Perhaps a better jjlace will be on assembling 
floors of some unplement dealer. Students should expect to work diligently 
and study carefully the implements they are working with. Good machines 
for such practice are corn harvesters, grain binders, silo fillers, sprayers, engines, 
tractors, threshers, grain cleaners, and many others. Repairing old machines 
may be the main object of the trip if it is to a farm in the neighborhood. 

9. If suitable places may be found within easy distance of travel, the class 
should study milling machinery of various kinds. Flour mills, feed mills, 
fertihzer mills, and others may be considered in this group. 

10. If there is to be a demonstration in the region of the use of tractors 
or other special farm machines, the school should attend if possible (Fig. 97). 
Make a suitable score card or outline for use in such study. 

11. If pubUc road builders or other gangs of men with engines are con- 
structing roads within reach of the class, they should make a lesson of this. 
They can actually take part in the work or may merely take note of materials 
used, thickness of layer, grade of road, curve of surface, weight of roller, cost 
of material, labor and machinery. 

School Shop Work Furnished by the Community. — The school 
should be a center for many kinds of shop work which the com- 
munity will be able to furnish. The instructor should not agree to 
have the school do all of the shop work for the community, but he 
can show his willingness to have the school practice on machines, 
engines and other equipment furnished by the farms of the region. 
Many lines of work will be readily found or perhaps offered freely 
to the school for this purpose. The members of the school may 
thus be able to study a nmnber of farm implements which might 
otherwise escape their attention. If possible, let every phase of 
farm mechanics come in for work in this way. Drill Avork and 
skill on the part of the student may thus be secured vnth little 
outlay by the school. 

If necessary, and if it is found advisable after studying the local 
conditions, the instructor and class may decide to charge a small 
fee for repair work done for farmers in the community. Such fees 



RURAL SCHOOL SHOP WORK 



217 



should be recorded, accounted for, and used in the maintenance of 
the shop, or in buying more equipment that may be needed. After 
students gain enough skill they may work on large buildings of the 
region for compensation and practice (Fig. 98). 

Rural School Shop Work. — In rural schools rooms for shop 
work are sometimes equipped in the basement of the building. In 
other cases a simple wooden building is erected with rough lumber 




Fig. 96. — Studont 



parii to assemble parts, adjust, and otherw iso 
■ry at tlie sales places of dealers. (I. H. Co.) 



tu<l\- farm inaehin- 



and provided with a chimney to which is connected a stove pipe 
and perhaps a pipe from the forge. 

Equipment for shop work in rural schools may be much more 
limited than the list given earlier in this chapter. Perhaps the 
shop work may be confined to wood Avork, in which case the cost of 
the equipment is much less than when both metal and wood work- 
ing tools are to be purchased. If the shop is in the basement, plans 
should be made to avoid noises which will disturb the school classes 
above. The work by students should be on simple problems for the 
farm. They should make things which are not too large to haul 



218 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

or carry home easily. Do not have them work on exercises merely 
for the sake of employing their time. They should make useful 
articles. Many of the things already suggested in this chapter msiy 
be used for exercises in rural schools. Select, if possible, those which 
are connected with the home projects of the students (Fig. 99). 




07. — Studonts in farm nipchanics should become familiar with the farm ti- 
the vifinity and learn how to operate and repair them. (J. A. Wisdom, .Mi 



■(ors of 



Shop Work in Town Grades. — If graded schools in villages and 
cities are equipped to do simple shop work, the exercises may be 
confined chiefly to wood work and the simple forms of metal work 
where expensive tools are not required. Exercises with rope (Fig. 
86) may be performed to good advantage. Students may make 
articles which are closely associated with their lives in town or in 
surrounding country. Simple articles may be made first: Make 
bird boxes (Fig. 100), plant trays, hotbeds, chicken coops, and 



ASSIGN READINGS IN FARM MECHANICS 219 

any articles that will be useful on the premises where children live. 
Some concrete work may be offered (Fig. 101). Let students do 
the mechanical work connected with their home projects. For 
lists of these, see earher pages of this chapter. 

Farm Mechanics for Short-Course Students. — As many of the 
students attending agricultural short courses are usually mature 
in years, they should not be expected to spend much time in 
learning fundamental principles underlying the exercises upon which 
they are to work. Let the time be spent making useful things, 
particularly of a character which will naturally appeal to students 
of matm'e years such as hog cots, colony houses, repairing farm 




Fig. 98. — If such a residence is to be built, the high-school students, if under a special instructor, 
may help in its erection. (W. C. Christensen, Wis., and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

machinery, and work with engines. Lot the particular desires of the 
short-course students be learned, if possible, before the course 
begins. If some are anxious to install water systems for their home 
places, they should be taught the simple methods of pipe fitting, 
and should be allowed to make up a list of materials needed for 
their projects. If some students desire to do some terracing work on 
their home farms, they should be taught the methods of terracing 
while at the school. If others wish to build septic tanks and plan 
for the disposal of sewage, they may easily be given the instruc- 
tion at school. 

Assign Readings in Farm Mechanics. — An instructor should 
have in his mind or on library reference cards a number of useful 
topics which should be assigned as readings for individual students. 
Suppose a student is planning a project for the installation of a 



220 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 



water system or lighting system, or a sewage system for his home. 
Suitable references should be assigned so that he may read fully 
regarding the plans and suggestions given by one or more authors. 
Perhaps a bulletin will give him the very information which he needs 




Fig. 99. — This class in farm shop work made feed hoppers, trestles, pig troughs, tool boxes, 
nail boxes, gates, handles, surveying poles, bag holders, and other articles. (J. A. Wisdom, Mo.) 

before undertaking his project. The object should be to have the 
student feel that he really understands the difficulties that he is 
likely to meet and something of how to solve them before he goes 
into his work. He will feel that he is forearmed and w\\\ be able 



|HiF 






# * 







Fn;. 100. — Each boy in the club has made one or more bird houses. These boys will never 
destroy beneficial birds. (W. C. Brown, Mich.) 

to exercise better judgment when unforeseen difficulties arise. 
He has the experience of some one else as well as that of his 
instructor to guide him. Or if the instructor is absent, the infor- 
mation which he has gathered from reading will be his main guide. 
Discoveries in Farm Shop Work. — When students are operating 
or repairing farm machinery they should learn to discover causes 
and effects of certain results which they observe. For example, in 



MECHANICAL OBSERVATIONS 



221 



operating a sulky-disk plow there are certain adjustments nec- 
essary to make the disks do their best work. When certain diffi- 
culties are seen, try to discover the causes of these. In operating 
a binder, if an apron stops, the operator should discover the cause 
and remedy it if possible. In filling a silo, if the blower pipe fills 
instead of delivering the silage properly, some condition must be 
discovered which causes the trouble. 

Many similar discoveries are necessary in the operation of farm 
engines, in the problems of drainage, in troubles with sewage and 
water systems, etc. 

Mechanical Discussions.^ — Lead students to form habits of 
discussing with the instructor the details of mechanical projects 




Fig. 101. — Students of the upper grades as well a.s liiffh-.scliuol studcnt.s nui> cat,il> Ifaiii to 
make concrete posts, and an incinerator for the school. 

which they are pm-suing. Even if these projects are minor ones 
they ^vill furnish many important points which should be brought 
up before the class for consideration. The habit of taking notes 
should be well established. This will avoid forgetting the points 
which are to be discussed in the class. 

Mechanical Observations.— How many points there are to be 
observed in shop work and in outdoor mechanical Avork ! Many of 
these observations should be made. Probably the best way to 
teach students to make the observations is to quiz them on points 
which they are likely to overlook in their work. When a student 
has been quizzed and found unobserving, he may be aroused to 
better observation in the future. In surveying or running levels 

^ See topics for debate, Chapter XI. 



222 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

the student may be led to form approximate ideas in differences 
of level, measures of angles, distances, or grades. 

In road work he may be taught that he should observe what 



Fig. 102. 



Fig. 103. / 




Fig. 102. — This Alabama class laid over 300 square feet of concrete flooring in the basement 

of the school building for practice. Three of them earned money during their spare hours at 

such work for neighbors. (H. A. Savage.) 



Fig. 103. 



-Students have practice in grading lawns and in building 
(Newport School, Tenn.) 



walks for the school. 



curves are necessary, what angles may be avoided, what cutting or 
filling will be required before the road implements are actually used. 




Fig. iQl. 



-Students should learn the value of second-hand lumber. Left, pulling out nails 
Right, lumber ready to erect a shop. (G. R. Ransom, Okla.) 



Mechanical Drills for Skill. — Students performing certain shop 
exercises may be found to be very awkward or bunglesome and 
perhaps unsuccessful in their work. In such cases they should be 
given other exercises which will develop them in those particulars 
in which they are having trouble. This repetition of work may be 
given to the student in such a way as not to make him feel that 



SOLVING MECHANICAL PROBLEMS 



223 



he is being drilled for the sake of skill (Figs. 102 and 103). There 
may be some other apparent motive in the second or third assign- 
ment. For example, if a student has trouble in tapping threads in 
drill holes and cuts them too deep or too shallow, it will be easy to 
let him try again on some other part of the repair of a machine. 
Never allow students to form bad habits of doing poor work in any 
department of mechanics. The quality of work should be judged 
in comparison with similar work by goo'd mechanics. Another 
example is in the sawing of rafters when poor joints are formed by 




Fig. 105. — Students studying the belting system, diameters of pulleys, speeds of 
engine and machine, and other points on a nearby farm. (Fairbanks- Morse Co.) 

careless students. If the student cannot hold his miter-square 
accurately or cannot saw to a mark, he should be given drill enough 
in such work as the building proceeds to make him skilful in these 
matters. Students should be taught skill in handling and using old 
lumber (Fig. 104). 

In splicing ropes (Fig. 86), if the results are not smooth and 
even, the students may be given other problems with other sizes 
of rope that will involve more attention to snug twisting and care- 
ful laying of the parts of the rope. 

Solving Mechanical Problems. — Earlier in this chapter sev- 
eral problems have been suggested in figuring speeds of machines 
run by engines (Fig. 105). Problems in figuring the amount of 



224 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 



paint required for coveritig a building for first or second coats 
may be given. Students should l)e required to make lists of lum- 

Fio. 1U6. Fig. 107. 




Fig.- 108. 

Figs. 106-108. — The erection of a school shop by students of a consolidated school. Fig. 100, 
mixing concrete for foundation; Fig. 107, framing; Fig. 108, building completed. (Lewiston, 

Minn.) 

bcr of different sizes and dimensions for specific building projects. 
Many problems arise in connection with land drainage, 



REFERENCE BOOKS AND BULLETINS 



225 



road construction, terracing, subdivision of lands into fields, 
and irrigation. 

Reference Books and Bulletins/^ — There are good books which 
should be in the library of schools offering courses in farm mechanics 



Fic. 100. 



Fig. 110. 




lOi). — The pig-eot and seed corn tree may be made by students as parts of their projects 
with pigs and seed corn. (C. D. Clements, Tenn.) 
Fig. 110. — In his pig project this Wisconsin boy made the pig house of the piano box. 
(W. C. Christensen and S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

and engineering. Have special books on farm motors; books re- 
lating to Hghting systems ; others on water systems ; and others on 
sanitation and drainage; books on farm structures, some of which 
give plans of all kinds of buildings; books on concrete work; 




Fig. 111. — t'seful articles for the farm made by the students in the school shop. 
i\. M. Field, Minn.) 

special works on drainage, irrigation, road construction, land 
surveying, and other special Hnes. 

It is to such special works of reference that the instructor will 
send students who are looking up readings on their home proj- 
ects. Instructors fully realize the value of such specialized books 
of reference. No textbook can possibly fill the need of students 

3 See also Chapter XVIL 
15 



226 FARM MECHANICS, ENGINEERING, AND SHOP WORK 

requirino; full information on problems and projects which they 
are undertaking. 

Bulletins issued by the federal government, by state experi- 
ment stations, and by private companies are usually supplied 
freely to schools requesting them. Cement companies issue val- 
uable bulletins on the uses of cement. Details of barn plans are 
found in bulletins furnished by companies selling barn equipment. 
Such pamphlets should be accumulated by the school and kept on 
the reference shelves for constant use. 

Mechanical journals are published periodically, and a few of 
these may be on the reading tables of colleges, normal schools, and 
perhaps high schools offering work in this subject. 

Engineering journals, electrical magazines, scientific and popu- 
lar papers of a mechanical nature are worthy of consideration for 
this purpose. EXERCISES 

1. Plan a good, inexpensive shop building for the teaching of fann shop 
work (Figs. 106-108). 

2. Make a hst of material for the construction of this building, with prices. 

3. Form an estimate of the number of days it would require for ten 
students to erect this building, and decide whether, or not, you would advise 
them to undertake it. 

4. Make a list of tools and equipment you would place in such a building, 
with price of each. 

5. Outline fully an extended project in mechanics connected with poul- 
try work. 

6. The same for a project connected with dairy work. 

7. The same for a project connected with sheep and beef-cattle work. 

8. The same for a project connected with sheep and swine growing (Figs. 
109, 110, and 111). 

9. The same for a project connected with farm improvement. 

10. Conduct a community survey regarding farm buildings and equip- 
ment in a small neighborhood. 

11. Another on modern farm machinery. 

12. Another on tile draining and terracing, or the need for either of these. 

13. Conduct a trip with fellow-students, or others, for a fann mechanics 
study at a good place in the neighborhood (Fig. 96). 

QUESTIONS 

1. Give a comprehensive outline of the fields to be covered by a course iH 

farm mechanics and engineering. 

2. Give suggestions for special methods in teaching this course. 

3. What equipment would you want for teaching farm power work? 

4. Why should the class work in farm mechanics consist chiefly of laboratory 

work? 

5. How would you plan to base the class work on the laboratory work? 

6. Why would you base the laboratory work and home project work, in this 

field, on the other agricultural iirojects of the students? 

7. Illustrate how you would do this in each of the kinds of agricultural 

projects. 



REFERENCES 227 

8. Suggest a number of exercises with farm power. 

9. Give reasons why community survey in farm mechanics are helpful. 

10. Give a Hst of topics for such a survey. 

11. How could you use a set of lantern slides to advantage in teaching farm 

mechanics? 

12. ^^Tiat benefit is derived from students drawing plans for farm buildings? 

13. Why is the study of physics helpful in a course in farm mechanics? 

14. Give a Hst of suitable trips which you might make with your class in 

this course? 

15. How could school shop work be of aid to the community? 

16. Give suggestions for teaching shop work in rural schools. 

17. In what fields should a teacher of agriculture be proficient to teach farm 

mechanics successfully? 

18. Suggest a list of exercises for shop work in town grades. 

19. What would be suitable lines of farm mechanics for short-course students? 

20. Suggest reading assignments in fann mechanics. 

21. Suggest several subjects for debate in this field. 

22. What observations can you suggest that students should make in tliis field? 

23. What lines require considerable drill to secure the proper skill in shop work? 

24. Make a list of mechanical problems to be solved by students. 

25. What reference books would you include, in this field, in a high school 

library? 

REFERENCES 

Farm drainage, Minn. Ext. Bui. 13; Rope work, Minn. Ext. Bui. 33; and 
Minn. Bui. 136 (15 cents); Cornell reading course, Bui., Vol. 1, No. 8; Iowa 
Ext. Bui. 24. 



CHAPTER XI 

HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

"The specific aim of the work in Farm Management is to enable young 
people to obtain such a knowledge of sound principles and correct practices 
essential in the proper selection, organization, equipment, and operation of a 
farm as a business enterprise as will prepare them for financial success in farm- 
ing." — ^Report of Committee on Agriculture of the N. E. A. Commission on 
Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

The purpose of this chapter is to aid teachers so to teach 
farm managenient as to accoinpUsh most effectively the above aims. 
Chapters V to X, and XII treat of tlie methods of teaching- subject 
matter so that students may pursue farming operations with greater 
profit. Many features of farm management are therefore presented 
in those chapters. Persons using this book will find there many 
suggestions, in addition to those given in this chapter, that will be 
helpful in the teaching of farm management. 

Content of Farm Management. — In the subject of farm man- 
agement should be included the study of the types of farming, 
comparison l^etween intensive and extensive methods, diversified 
and special methods. It must be concerned with the maintenance 
of soil fertility, livestock problems, suitability of farm operations 
to soil, climate, and market conditions. It must include a study 
of the relationship between size of farm, capital available, and 
projects undertaken. The questions of ownership, rental, employ- 
ment of labor, securing equipment, arrangement and cost of build- 
ings, and the planning of cropping systems are all included. The 
business of farming — ^farm records and accounts and the selling 
of products — is an important department of farm management. 
How to secure good roads over which to travel and market farm 
products is vitally connectc^d with fai-m management (Fig. 112). 

Special Methods in Farm Management. — While methods of 
conducting the class meeting do not differ in farm management 
from the methods used in other subjects, attention should be called 
to a few features relating to the subject matter and its treatment 
which need special emphasis. 

Farm management, dealing as it does with the proper com- 
bination of all of the farming operations considered in the preceding 
chapters, is more dependent than is any of them upon local data 
if its teachings are to function in the farming of the future. Agron- 
228 



CLASS WORK IN FARM MANAGEMENT 229 

omy may teach how to raise an abundant crop, but farm manage- 
ment may show that, regardless of abundance of yield, such a crop 
should not be grown in that locality. To know how to raise good 
crops and animals is necessary but not sufficient. To know how 
to make a profit from the entire complex of farming operations 
under local conditions is essential and is the cornerstone for the 
teaching of farm management. 

The teacher must have available not only the data gathered by 
the office of Farm Management of the U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture and by the state colleges of agriculture of such states as 
Minnesota and New York which may be used as general founda- 
tions, but should have the data gathered by his own state college of 
agriculture and by any other state institutions, such as normal 
schools. If the teacher has done the work of the preceding chapters, 
he will have the results of many surveys made by himself and his 
pupils which he has used as a part of the work of those chapters. 
In addition to the use made of them there they maj^ be utiUzed 
with new values in the farm management studies. Besides these, 
additional local surveys supplementary thereto should be made by 
the farm management class. 

Not only must students use a large amount of data much of 
which is local but they must know how to use it. This requires 
a clear knowledge of the fundamentals of bookkeeping and of the 
methods of using simple statistics. Unless the pupils have had this 
training previously it must be given in the farm management class. 

There are a few good textbooks on farm management suitable 
for secondary schools, nomial schools, and colleges which may be 
used as guides and references ; but the teacher who permits his farm 
management work to degenerate into a mere study of books is not 
only losing his opportunity but is also cheating his pupils out of 
their birthright — a practical knowledge of how to manage success- 
fully farm operations in that locality. 

Class Work in Farm Management. — Let students prepare 
topics for class recitation which are broad and exhaustive 
rather than mere opinions or one-sided discussions of the different 
phases of farm management. For example, good topics at the 
beginning of the course are : (1) The farmer as a business man. (2) 
The farmer as a scientist. (3) The farmer as a mechanic. (4) The 
farm a place for efficiency. (5) What the farmer needs to know. 

Early in the course let some student contrast the cost of living 
on a farm with the cost in a city. Let another study and report 



230 



HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 



on the profits in farming; another on the safety of investment in 
farm lands; another, the estates left by farmers to their children. 
Such topics will aid the young student in deciding more definitely 
that he will be a farmer. 

Topics may be assigned that will aid students in determining 
the types of farming which they will prefer to follow. The in- 
structor can, by careful thought, select such topics in farm man- 
agement as w\\\ help the student to be a better farm manager. He 
should strive to make the topics suit the conditions of the young 




Fig. 112. — The condition of the roads gruatly affects the number of visits by the instructor 
to home projects. There are too many roads Hke the one shown here. ■ (C. D. Clements.) 



students in his class. Let abstract principles be omitted unless 
applications of them can be found by which to make them real 
to the students' minds. Whenever topics including principles in 
farm management are assigned, the student should be required to 
find an example in the neighborhood or elsewhere in his observation 
or experience which will illustrate or impress the principles learned. 
These examples should be given in class recitations so that all 
members of the class will realize their bearing upon real life and 
actual farming. 

For example, in the study of intensive and extensive farming 
examples of both should be constantly before the minds of the 
students. In the study of ways of fai'ming with small capital 



LABORATORY WORK IN FARM MANAGEMENT 231 

apply the study to the hves of the students in the class. Let each 
tell how certain young people have started into farming for them- 
selves. Let them plan different Avays by which members of the 
present class may themselves start into the business of farming. In 
the study of the farm labor problem let students describe men who 
have worked on their farms, wages received, ideals and ambitions 
of these men, hours of labor, methods of managing the men, scheme 
used on their own farms for the efficient use of farm hands on stormy 
days, the ways of maldng farm laborers contented and making them 
interested in their work. 

A good class exercise when the subject of horse labor is up 
would be for each member of the class to make a report of the 
number of days their horses work on their own farms in a year. 
Let them report on the cost of keeping horses when idle. Let the 
most efficient cases and the most wasteful cases be contrasted 
with each other when reports are made. 

When the relation of farm equipment to type of farming and 
size of farm are under consideration, let each student make a 
Ust of the machinery equipment on his home place, with the value 
of the same. These lists may be contrasted in class and will form 
a basis for practical discussion. Let the lengths of hfe of the 
machines of each kind be compared, and find causes for difference. 

Make many problems for students to solve, and report the 
results in class. Base these problems on the experience of the mem- 
bers of the class. Make problems on factors that affect farm 
profits; on farm improvements; on waste in farming; on soil manage- 
ment; on farm planning, and many other phases of the subject. 

Laboratory Work in Farm Management. — ^Let students make 
plans of farmsteads showing the arrangement of buildings, wells, 
roads, walks, and fence lines. Distances should be shown, or the 
drawings may be made to appropriate scales. Let the students 
draw their own farmsteads first ; later others may be drawn, as those 
of neighbors. After these are drawn as they really exist, the stu- 
dent should study the rearrangement, and after planning he should 
redraw the same farmsteads showing better arrangements, with the 
least possible cost for the changes suggested. Let each strive to 
make plans that will save steps in the daily work of the farm. 
Let the elements of risk from fire be also taken into consideration. 

Let students draw plans showing the actual size and location 
of the fences and fields of their own farms and perhaps those on 
neighboring farms (Fig. 113). The crops grown and the rotations 



232 



HOW TO 'l^EACH I'AKM MAiNAGEMKNT 



practiced on these farms should be indicated on the drawings. 
Study the arrangement of fields with reference to the location of 
the barns and residences. Consider the distances for going to and 
from fields with crops, manure, and for the annual field labor. Con- 
sider the shapes of fields and calculate the cost of plowing fields 
of different shapes. After sufficient study is given to the farm as 
it is, let it be replanned and redrawn to remove as many of the 



FIELD I 
lOA 




2 
13A 




3 


8 
8A 




17A 








6 
5A 

FARM STEAD 


5 
12A 






4 
25A 




7 
10A 





FIELD 1 



20 A 



20 A 



6 
5A 

FARMSTMD 



15 A 



20 A 



4 

20 A 



Fig. 113. — How students make plans of their own farms or the farms of neighbors. 
(Crowell's "Agriculture and Life.") 

losses as possible. Let the shapes of the fields and the location of 
the fields be changed to agree with the best teachings of farm 
management (Fig. 113). 

Try laboratory experiments to prove the efficiency of paint in 
preventing rust, corrosion, and rotting of various metal and wood 
surfaces. Try laboratory experiments to demonstrate the impor- 
tance of using green manure in the maintenance of soil fertility. 
Other experiments to demonstrate the losses from leaching, from 
erosion, from burning of organic matter, from bad management of 
the farm manure crop, from wasting wood ashes, from misuse of 
commercial fertilizer, and other Imd management regarding soils. 






Fig. 114.— Make a community map, enlarged from a county map or R F D mao hv the 

process of drawing squares shown in the lower part of this figure. Locate houses schools 

churches, roads, places visited by class pupils' houses, points of agricuftural intereS and 

streams. (Albert Barnett, S. C.) 



234 HOW TO TEAC'H 1^'ARM MANAGEMENT 

Plan laboratory exercises in the use of business forms, including 
notes, checks, receipts, contracts, mortgages, insurance papers, 
leases and deeds. Have exercises in the use of card indexing of 
addresses for use in selling pure-bred stock by mail. 

Have students practice the maldng of applications for regis-, 
tration of pure-bred stock of all kinds. Let all students have 
practice in keeping records of litters of pure-bred swine, records 
of pure-bred cattle and sheep. Let them become familiar by act- 
ual practice with the records and blanks required for use in reg- 
istry of merit work. Let students have practice in keeping milk 
records and calculating incomes when weights and butter-fat 
tests are known. They should make graphs showing the production 
requirements for profit of members of a dairy herd. Let the pro- 
duction of each member of the herd be shown in graphic form. 
The production of each animal should be compared by them with 
the mininmm profit line. 

Have students learn to keep egg records, incubator records, 
brooder records, and other poultry records. 

The laboratory work should give students practice in cost 
accounting which should be based upon the actual farming on the 
students' home farm. If students are pursuing projects in crop 
production and animal production for profit, they should make 
these projects the basis of their laboratory practice in bookkeeping. 
Their fathers' projects with various crops and herds may also be 
used. Let the simplest methods in record keeping be taught and 
practiced by students. 

Let each student get a copy of the land description from the 
deed of his home place. This can be obtained at the recorder's 
office in the county seat, or the deed may be found at home and 
that portion copied for use in the laboratory. Let the student 
make a drawing of the boundaries of the farm from this land 
description. In those states or regions where farms are described 
by the system known as "meets andbounds" this exercise is often 
a difficult one and should be given careful attention. In states 
where the land descriptions are made according to the Congressional 
system, the students should learn to describe their own farms 
by this system. A map showing the principal meridians and the 
ranges or base for the region should be secured by the school 
for use of the students (Fig. 114). 

Special forms and systems to be studied by students in the 
farm laboratory should be selected by the instructor according 



FIELD EXERCISES IN FARM MANAGEMENT 



235 



to the special industries of the region. Some of these may be: 
Keeping records of pickers in berry patches, keeping records of 
men in gathering truck crops or field crops, keeping time-books and 
pay-rolls on large plantations, keeping records of the work of 
packers of fruit, the packers of eggs, the picking and dressing 
of broilers. 

Field Exercises in Farm Management. — It has already been 
suggested that the farming methods found in the region be analyzed 
as a basis for the studies in farm management. In the fall, when 
the farmers are harvesting and storing crops, let the class go to 
a fruit farm, for example, and study the management of labor, the 
methods of transporting products to market, the prices received, 





i^ 




'#- 


. vt A- 


^k:I 


aHH^KSc^^^RT. 



it*-^ 






J OS" 



Courtesy Planet Jr Cunipany 

Fig. 115. — Students should visit farms heavily equipped with machines and work-horses 
and study the relation between the capital invested in them and the total capital and income. 
Also make a graph of the horse labor distributed by months. (Productive Farm Crops.) 

and find in what ways any of these methods could be improved. 
Perhaps several farms of the same character can be studied and 
comparison made by members of the class. At each place inquiry 
can be made regarding the different items which make up the cost 
of production. The probable profits from each enterprise can 
thus be approximated. 

Students should visit large plantations (Fig. 115) or smaller 
farms that are supposed to be operated according to the best 
business methods. Let them find the best points and the weak 
ones in the management (Figs. 116 and 117). These should be com- 
pared with other farming methods of the region. Different types of 
farming should be included, if possible, in the visits of the class. 



236 



HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 



If there is a marketing association of any kind in the region, 
students shoukl make a detailed study of the work of the business 
manager, learn the duties and responsibilities of members, deter- 




Fig: 116. — Tractor us. six horses. One stall instead of six; tractor does not eat when not 

working; no harness to buy; no horse chores to do. The twenty-five or thirty acres required 

to feed six horses will feed as many dairy cows, producing human food. ** *"-•" "*"'' *'° 

farm the horse is gone. (Cleveland Tractor Co.) 



At this student's 




Fio. 117. — Students must be taught to solve fho problem of what kind of work animals 
are best suited to the farm. Cattle are still useful for this purpose on many farms that are 
stumpy, hilly, or rocky; and where grass is abundant they are maintained economically. 

mine the advantages of the association, and discover, if possible, any 
dangers which are likely to arise by marketing or selling fruit to 
such an association. I^earn how buyers are secured and contrast 
the prices received by this method and other methods of selling. 



FARM MANAGEMENT SURVEYS 237 

Excursions should be taken to nearby market places to study 
different methods of repairing products for market, to study the 
details of selling to commission men, selling direct to consumers, 
and selling to wholesale dealers. 

In regions where warehouses or elevators are used by farmers 
or by buyers, the class should visit them and study the methods of 
storage, the methods of receiving, weighing, price-fixing, and other 
details. In tobacco regions where there are loose-leaf floors 
or storage warehouses, the student should visit them on market 
days to learn many details of the business. 

In creamery regions let the details of the business of operation 
of private or cooperative concerns be studied minutely. 

The management of poultry packing plants should be studied 
by visits to these places. If there are important stock yards within 
reach, trips should be taken to them on the best market days and 
details of management should be studied and noted by every 
student. Let them follow one bunch of cattle or a lot of hogs and 
sheep from the car through the yards during the weighing and 
buying by the dealers, through the regrading and sorting of the 
animals, through the reselling and distribution of these. Prices, 
conunissions, weighing fees, dockages, etc., should all be learned 
by all the class. 

It will pay for the class to visit a packing house where live- 
stock are slaughtered and dressed. They should learn the methods 
of inspection by federal authorities. They should learn the different 
cuts of meats produced by this packing plant. Find what criti- 
cisms the owners or managers may have regarding the classes 
of animals which they are compelled to use. 

Management of Other Farm Details. — On various farms and on 
suitable occasions the students should learn the management of 
labor of men and teams, economy in making the best use of impor- 
tant farm machinery, care of farm machinery. They may study 
other important details in the chief farming operations, such as 
threshing the grain crop, filling of silos, husking and shredding the 
corn crop, harvesting and curing a tobacco crop, picking and pack- 
ing an apple crop or peach crop, constructing roads or im- 
portant farm buildings, and any other important farm operations 
which may be found. 

Farm Management Surveys. — Early in the course, or before it 
begins, special farm management surveys may be made. Let one 
special line of farming be taken at a time. The questions should 



238 HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

be so worded as not to offend the farmers who are asked to answer 
them. Each survey should be as brief as is consistent with 
good results. 

If the surveys regarding each line of farming have been made 
in connection with the study of that branch earlier in the course, 
perhaps the answers can be studied by the class and the manage- 
ment features gleaned from them. After going over the early sur- 
veys on the special subjects, it may be found that a few additional 
points of information should be gathered. In that case perhaps the 
students will be able to answer the questions themselves without 
consulting the farmers of the region. Let the additional questions 
be made and answered either by the students or by the farmers.^ 

Take the subject of dairying, for example; the special dairy 
survey suggested in another chapter will bring out many of the 
methods in management. It may be desirable to ask each dairy- 
man of the region regarding the prices received for products in 
various months of the year. The methods of marketing products 
may be asked. The kinds of accounts kept by each dair>7nan may 
be included in the dairy management survey. Questions could be 
asked regarding their attitude toward cooperative marketing, 
toward price fixing, toward cooperative buying of feeds, and other 
points which the instructor may wish to include because of certain 
local conditions. 

Charts on Farm Management.- — A number of valuable charts 
can be made from illustrations in bulletins and reference books on 
this subject. Valuable suggestions for farm management charts are 
often found in periodicals. Perhaps some of these may need to be 
modified to suit local conditions. Let the results of local sur- 
veys be formulated into charts without being personal. 

Farm management charts should be useful in class work and 
in community work in the region. Some of the drawings of farm- 
steads or of farm fields, with the replanning of these, may be made 
into large charts for use in these ways (Fig. 113). Forms to 
be used in record keeping may b(^ placed on large charts. 

Lantern Slides on Farm Management.'^^ — A number of photo- 
graphs may be taken by the instructor or members of the class on 
their field trips. These may be made into lantern slides and used 
from time to time in class work or in community work. Other 
lantern slides which relate to the general subject of farm manage- 

1 See suggestions for farm surveys, Chapters V to X, and XII. 

2 See also Chapter XVI. 



FARM MANAGEMENT IN SHORT COURSES 239 

ment may be secured from supply houses. The subject is so broad 
that it is sometimes difficult to select a good series of lantern slides 
best for any special meeting where the topic is to be discussed. It 
is far easier to arrange the slides according to the management of 
any particular line of farming. Sometimes it may be desirable to 
select a few slides on each of the types of farming. 

Many sets of slides may be borrowed. A number of slides 
touching upon various phases of farm management may be easily 
chosen for illustrating special points in this subject. 

Farm Management in Rural Schools. — Much of what has al- 
ready been said regarding how to teach farm management will 
apply as well to rural schools as to other schools. It is not believed, 
however, that this subject should be taught as a distinct subject in 
rural schools. Many of the points in the best management of 
farms should be taught by studying particular cases in the dis- 
trict. These should be taken up in connection with the study of 
the subjects themselves. Management of the poultry business 
should be considered in connection with the study of poultry 
husbandry. This should usually be the case with each of the other 
branches studied in the rural school. 

Teaching Farm Management in Town Grades. — ^Perhaps some 
few points regarding simple principles in farm management can be 
studied in grade schools below high school rank. If such lessons 
are attempted they should be of the concrete form and deal chiefly 
with materials. In the upper grades some of the laboratory exer- 
cises suggested in this chapter may be used. Business forms, 
drawings of farmsteads and perhaps the drawing of farms with 
fields are exercises not too difficult for students of the upper grades. 
Trips to elevators, packing houses, warehouses, and other places 
where farm produce is handled will bring to the minds of town 
children many elements in farm management which will broaden 
their minds and cause them to think of the importance of good 
farm management. 

Farm Management in Short Courses. — ^When high schools 
offer short courses for only a week or a few weeks they should not 
attempt to teach the whole subject of farm management in its 
many phases. They should select the elements in farm manage- 
ment which relate to the leading kinds of farming of the region. 
These elements of farm management should be impressed on the 
farmers or students attending such brief courses. Most of these 
lessons should be given to the students by successful farmers who 



240 HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

are known to have been successful in the special lines of farming 
under consideration. These farmers should speak from experience 
and tell of their own management. The lessons in farm manage- 
ment which are to be impressed during any short course should be 
few in nmnber and important enough so that they will bear re- 
peating many times during the course. This may be planned by 
the program committee or the instructor of the school so that all of 
the students will feel that they have learned well the methods in 
farm management. 

In college short courses the problem is only slightly different 
from that just discussed. More lessons may be considered when 
the course covers several months. As the farmers or students 
attending college short courses are producers, it is best to have the 
lessons in farm management deal directly with production and 
marketing of particular farm products. Frequently the students 
are following special lines of farming and the special management 
which is best for each of these special lines should be presented b3^ 
specialists in those lines. Here also the instructor should speak 
from experience. Many of the field trips suggested earlier in this 
chapter may be taken by college short-course students. Much 
laboratory work may be planned for college short-course students 
if time will permit. If the time is too limited, only the most im- 
portant lines of such work should be included. 

A Tjrpical Lesson in Farm Management. — Suppose that this is 
a second lesson on the subject of farm equipment. In the assign- 
ment of the lesson let each student l)e told to determine at home 
what machines are most likely to be purchased next on their farms. 
They are each to make a list of the needs for such a machine as 
they are about to purchase. Each is to determine the cost of the 
machine. Each is to outline the conditions which make it advis- 
able to have the machine. He is to describe how the farm has been 
getting along without it. He is to calculate the saving in hantl 
labor or in any other line by the purchasing of this machine. He 
is to show how much more produce may be raised on the farm by 
the purchase of the machine. He is to summarize all of this and 
prove to the class that it will actually pay to own this extra machine 
on the home farm. 

At recitation time let each student report on the results of his 
study. Where mistakes in calculation have been made they should 
be pointed out and corrected. Be sure that each student has 
completely mastered the idea that the purchase of added equip- 



DEBATES ON FARM MANAGEMENT TOPICS 241 

ment for the farm should always be preceded by such calculations 
as these. Ask each student to tell of examples of the purchase of 
machines which have proven of little value on their farms or 
neighboring farms. 

Let some of the best calculations made by members of the 
class be placed on the blackboard for class analysis and study. 
Be sure that the student has considered interest, depreciation, 
repairs, oil, and cost of operation when he is proving the value 
of the new machine. 

Have each of the students take down some of the best calcula- 
tions for each of the types of machines reported upon at these 
exercises. If time will permit, other problems along this line may 
be assigned to students for solution. If the recitation period is 
too brief for the complete study of all of the reports of members 
of the class, let the papers prepared by members be passed to 
others for review and criticisms. This step might be made in the 
first part of the recitation period, and after each critic has reviewed 
the paper of the fellow-student, then let the criticisms be brought 
out in class discussion. 

Farm Management Discussions. — Teachers of farm manage- 
ment, assisted by their classes, should constantly watch for topics 
which are suitable for debates and discussions. The purpose of such 
debates and discussions is to keep the minds of students and pro- 
ducers active along farm management lines. 

Teachers of agriculture should try to have their students dis- 
cuss many farm management topics. There are many points which 
will be impressed upon their minds only by constant repetition 
and discussion. The time in class recitation is far too brief fcr all 
of the important principles in farm management to be thoroughly 
fixed in their minds. Indeed, if too many of the topics are con- 
sidered, none of them will be as well fixed as they should be. 
Train students to discuss farm management topics among each 
other, to consult their parents frequently on many of the points. 
If they can interest their parents in topics of economy, farm losses, 
farm improvements, better livestock, etc., they will have accom- 
plished much toward fixing in their own minds many lessons in 
farm management. 

Debates on Farm Management Topics. — Suitable subjects for 

debate, either at community clubs, boys and girls' clubs, or in 

classes in agriculture, or at literary societies, are quite numerous. 

The topics, if possible, should be selected to suit local conditions. 

16 



242 HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

The statement of the question may be positive or negative to suit 
the rules of debate or to suit the local conditions. The topics 
here suggested are easily modified and the list is not to be con- 
sidered complete. 

1. Resolved, that it is better for a young man to borrow money to start 
farming for himself than to work for wages until he has enough capital for 
the purpose. 

2. Resolved, that the farms of this region have too much machinery equip- 
ment (or too Uttle). 

3. Resolved, that the school, church, and social conditions are more im- 
portant in choosing a farm than the soil and topography. 

4. Resolved, that the buildings of a farmstead should be assembled close 
together regardless of danger of fire spreading from one to another. 

5. Resolved, that it pays better to rent farms than to buy them. 

6. Resolved, that cover crops are better than terraces in farm manage- 
ment to prevent soil erosion. 

7. Resolved, that it is better to raise pure-bred hogs (or cattle) than to 
merely own a pure-bred sire and grade up the herd. 

8. Resolved, that farm laborers should be given better treatment and more 
opportunities to improve themselves instead of better pay. 

9. Resolved, that it pays to paint farm buildings, plant shrubbery, vines 
and trees in the yards as much as to raise crops. 

10. Resolved, that farm bookkeeping pays more for the time used than 
any other part of farming. 

11. Resolved, that there are more kinds of loss in farming than in any 
one line of city business. 

12. Resolved, that a majority of all farm losses are preventable. 

13. Resolved, that the cooperative owTiership of machinery is not profitable. 

14. Resolved, that a cooperative creamery should be organized in 
this region. 

15. Resolved, that the cooperative selUng of hvestock is better than selling 
through local buyers. 

Things to Discover in Farm Management. — The student who 
thinks deeply into farm management problems Avill be able to 
make many discoveries. A niunber of lines along which discoveries 
nmst be made are suggested in the foregoing list of debatable 
questions. He must try to discover just what kind of soil manage- 
ment will bring the best results with the least effort and least 
expenditure of money. He must discover, if possible, whether the 
improvements of his farm in appearance, buildings, and farm 
equipment will really add to the value of his farm or to his income, 
or to both. He must discover whether advertising his product 
pays or not. He must discover what mediums of advertising are 
the best. 

Let teachers of agriculture set students to work making dis- 
coveries in farm management. Have them report their discoveries 
in class from time to time. They may make some of these dis- 



THINGS TO OBSERVE IN FARM MANAGEMENT 243 

coveries while they are pursuing their home projects. Whenever 
a discovery is made by parents and neighbors it should also be 
reported by students at school. Let prospective teachers who 
are studying this subject increase the list or give about twenty- 
five or more discoveries that may be made. 

Things to Solve in Farm Management. — ^Students should learn 
to solve many of the farm problems while pursuing home projects. 
A brief list of things to solve is given here merely for suggestion: 

(1) How to secure better farm labor. (2) How to make labor better con- 
tented. (.3) How to manage ignorant laborers with efficiency. (4) How to 
manage a berry or cherry crop without loss during wet weather. (5) How to 
train farm hands to put away tools and implements after using them. (6) 
How to best handle the farm manure crop with least loss. (7) How to teach 
dairymen to treat animals kindly. (8) How to induce teamsters to get good 
results from their teams without hurting them. (9) How to prevent sore 
shoulders during plowing season. (10) What system of bookkeeping would 
best suit my farm? (11) Would it pay to equip my farm with a supply of 
hay caps for curing clover or alfalfa in shocks? (12) Which of my lines of 
farming are most profitable on my farm? (13) Would it pay to add sheep to 
my Ust of livestock? (14) Would it pay to buy a manure spreader for jny farm? 
(15) Shall I purchase a manure carrier and track for my barn? (16) Would a 
tractor pay on a farm the size of mine? (Fig. 116.) 

Let the prospective teacher of agriculture extend this list to 
twenty-five or more. Teachers of agriculture should assign many 
problems such as these to their students for solution: 

Things to Observe in Farm Management. — Teach young farm- 
ers to observe many points in farm management, particularly 
on the best farms of the region. Let them report their observa- 
tions in class from time to time so that they will constantly be on 
the alert to see them whenever opportunity offers. A suggestive 
list is given to show teachers and prospective teachers just what 
is meant. 

1 . When some farmer has improved his farm by making suitable plantings, 
or improving the lawn, or painting the buildings, or building walks and better 
fences, notice the effect upon his neighbors and report what is said in the neigh- 
borhood regarding it. Does it help to lead others to improve their own places? 
Would a general improvement along these lines be a real benefit to the 
community in keeping boys and girls contented with farm fife? Would such 
a movement be of benefit to land owners when buyers visit the farms? 

2. Observe the effect upon farm hands when some farmer improves the 
sleeping quarters or otherwise tries to make farm laborers more contented. 

3. Observe the effects upon any farmer when he begins to systematically 
keep farm records. Observe the effect on a farmer when he purchases pure- 
bred livestock of any kind. Also note the effect upon his neighbors. 

4. Observe the difference in success between farmers on farms of the same 
general type. Is the difference due to arrangement of buildings, keeping 
accoimts, or what is the cause? 



244 HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

5. When buyers choose farms in your region note the kinds of fanns 
purchased. 

6. Observe whether a tractor purchased by a neighbor has proven a benefit 
or detriment to his success as a fanner (Fig. 116). 

7. Observe the different methods of handhng manure, treating fields in 
winter, housing Hvestock, pasturing hogs, cleaning fence rows, marketing fann 
produce, selecting seed corn, buying fann and home supplies. 

Things to Do in Farm Management. — Have your students do 
something worth while in farm management from time to time as 
they pursue the work in home projects. Let them report at school 
things they do in farm management. These may be approved 
or disapproved l^y the instructor. They may, if so desired, report 
some of the things to the class for discussion. Let the following 
list be expanded and kept before the students, or at least in the 
mind of the instructor, so that students may be reminded from time 
to time of the things they ought to be doing at home: 

1. When marketing methods are not entirely satisfactory change them 
and report the change in method (Fig. 118). 

2. If you have been hauhng manure out to a field in winter when the 
ground was frozen, change your methods when a thaw comes if the hauling 
would injure the field. 

3. If you have been borrowing tools and machinery from neighbors arid 
can secure capital enough to buy what you need, report the change in 
management. 

4. Keep machinery better housed, better painted, and better oiled. 

5. Start a good system of cost accounting incljiding all the leading opera- 
tions of the farm. 

6. Keep a strict accoimt of the farm inventory, with the value of all articles 
of equipment. 

7. Improve the dairy by keeping records of the weight and test of milk 
produced by each animal. 

8. Keep all pure-bred livestock properly registered. 

9. Make improvements if possible in the shape and arrangement of the 
fields of the farm (Fig. 113). 

10. Plan better rotations for your fann if possible. 

11. Stop all losses that you can find occurring on your farm. 

12. Increase the amount of running capital for your farm operations up 
to the point of greatest profit. ; 

13. Measure your farm by the labor income method and increase this to 
the highest possible point. 

Farm Management Readings. — -There are often accounts given 
in agricultural journals of successes in farm management. Students 
should be trained to read these with proper interpretations. There 
may he danger of overstatements or v/rong impressions given by 
glowing accounts. Students should remember in reading these 
that many farm operations look better on paper than they do on 
the farm itself. If students would write up some of the operations 
that show good examples of farm management in the neighbor- 



SCHOOL LIBRARY REFERENCE BOOKS 



245 



hood, they would see how these look when printed in the local 
press. Note the effect of these upon other students or neighbors 
who read them. 

Many bulletins are issued by the United States Bureau of 
Farm Management and by similar departments in state colleges 
from time to time. These should be read and studied either for 
class use or for i-eporting in literary societies, community meetings, 
or clubs. Train students to read much on the subject of farm 
management. Their minds will thus be kept upon the subject 
more than if they gained all of their management lessons from class 
discussions without doing much reading. By reading students 
will be able to learn principles 
and to summarize results bet- 
ter than if they hear discus- 
sions only. 

Teachers should assign 
readings to different students 
and have these students re- 
port at some specific time 
the results of their reading. 
Interesting stories in farm 
management have been pub- 
lished. Induce students to 
read these for mere entertain- 
ment and the results will be 
helpful in the management of 
their farms. 

School Library Reference 
Books in Farm Management.^ 
— Teachers should obtain the 
latest list of books on this subject from the States Relations Ser- 
vice, United States Department of Agriculture. Secure from this 
list all of the best and latest books on the subject. A few books 
on rural economics and agricultural economics should be included. 

If the typical method of conducting the class work is to be 
followed for all or a part of the time during this course, there should 
be several copies of some of the best reference books on the shelves. 
This will enable the instructor to assign a number of students to 
the same authority in the preparation of topics for the same recita- 
tion. Books of a popular nature which touch upon farm manage- 

»See Chapter XVn. 




Fig. lis. — This New Jersey student estab- 
lished a "vocational" market at his home 
near the publir: road for the motoring public. 
(A. W. Hand.) 



246 HOW TO TEACH FARM MANAGEMENT 

ment should be included in the list if there are funds sufficient to 
warrant this investment. They will aid in causing students to 
give more attention to the subject of farm management without 
realizing that they are really studying at all. Suggestions for the 
arrangement of library books are given elsewhere.^ 

Bulletins on Farm Management/ — From the same source above 
suggested get the latest list of IjuUetins relating to farm manage- 
ment. Obtain all of these that are still available and classify them 
for use in the school. Write to your own experiment station and 
to a number or all of those in other states and ask for a list of the 
available bulletins on this subject. Send for these bulletins and 
include all that in any way relate to better management on any 
of the fines of farming. There are many such bulletins published. 
These should be carefully grouped according to the suggestions 
given in another chapter. 

Farm Management in Journals.'' — There are several periodicals 
published which are devoted chiefly to farm management. These 
of course should be placed on the reading tables. Also include 
those journals whicJi have good departments of farm management. 
Some journals publish excellent accounts of farm management by 
good writers. These are not always grouped in departments called 
"Farm Management." They are nevertheless just as valuable 
for students to read. Some schools make it a practice to send the 
agricultural journal to the home of students on Fi'iday night to 
be returned Monday morning. If this is done, it is a good plan 
to have each student ask his parents to express their opinions of 
some particular article in the journal. This may start some home 
discussion. It may assure the teacher that the magazines are 
being well used and it establishes a connecting fink of thought 
between teacher and parents. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make plans of a farmstead with which you are very famiUar, showing 
many of the details, such as arrangement of buildings, wells, lots, walks, roads, 
and fences. 

2. Plan and replan the lay-out of fields on this farm to make them the 
most ideal. 

3. Make a card index of the pure-bred stock of a neighborhood. 

4. Make application for registration of pure-bred stock for at least one 
breed in each of the kinds of farm animals — -sheep, cattle, horses, hogs. 

5. Make a form for keeping egg records; another for incubator records. 

6. Select, or make, a set of forms for use in cost accounting for at least 
three of the field crops of your state. 

' See Chapter XVII. 



QUESTIONS 247 

7. Conduct a field exercise with your classmates, or others, to make a 
study of the farm methods in some particular lines. 

8. Make a study of the rules, methods, and management of a marketing 
association in your region or elsewhere. 

9. Conduct a trip for the study of markets in a good market center. 

10. Conduct a study of a nearby warehouse, creamery, packing plant, 
elevator, or other institution of your region. 

11. Make a farm-management survey of a small neighborhood. 

12. Make one or more charts to aid in teaching farm management. 

13. Take local photographs to teach important points in farm management. 

14. Make a full outline of several typical lessons in farm management. 

15. Make inventories of one or more farms. 

16. Compare annual inventories of one farm, made in successive years. 

17. Get blanks from the agricultural college of your state and of neigh- 
boring states and from the U. S. Department of Agriculture showing different 
systems of farm accounting. 

IS. Make a graph of the weekly price of corn, hogs, or some other farm 
product. 

QUESTIONS 

1. State the specific aim in a course in farm management. 

2. Give the content of such a course. 

3. What are some of the special methods in teaching this subject? 

4. Give good topics for beginning class work in farm management. 

5. Suggest a number of laboratory exercises in farm management. 

6. How should students learn to keep account of cost of production? 

7. Why should students practice the making of applications for registering 

pure-bred stock? 

8. Why should students leai'n to use forms for keeping records of production 

in poultry? In dairying? 

9. Suggest a number of field exercises in farm management. 

10. Give topics to be included in a farm management survey. 

11. How could you use farm management charts in farmers' meetings? 

12. Suggest some suitable views for lantern slides for use in farmers' meetings. 

13. How could you teach fann management in rural schools? In town grades? 

14. Suggest suitable topics for farm management in a short course. 

15. Review a typical lesson in farm management. 

16. Suggest a number of topics for debate in farm management. 

17. What are some of the things for a student to discover in this field? 

18. What are some of the things for him to solve? 

19. What are some of the things to be observed in this field? 

20. Mention a number of things to do in farm management. 

21. Suggest some reading assignments for this course. 

22. Make a Ust of good reference books for high-school libraries, relating to 

this course. 



CHAPTER XII 

HOW TO TEACH SOILS 

"The specific aim of the work in soils is to enable young people to obtain 
such a knowledge of the most important principles of the formation, properties, 
and management of soils, applicable primarily to their own vicinity, as will 
prepare them for the successful production of maximum crops and the main- 
tenance of soil fertilit\'." — Report of Committee on Agriculture of the N. E. A. 
Commission on Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

Field Covered. — This subject includes the origin and classi- 
fication of soils; relation of composition to plants and animals; 
soils and plant relations; soil and crop i)roduction; soil water, 
drainage and irrigation; tilth and tillage; soil oiganisms in relation 
to fertility; chemical elements of fertilit}^; liming in relation to 
fertility; the harmful agents in soils; crop rotation in relation to 
fertility; application of principles to soil management; soil erosion; 
systems of farming in relation to fertility; detei'mining the needs 
of soils; profitable crop production; dry-land farming. 

The content of the course on soils of any school should be made 
to suit the region. The soils of other localities need not be studied 
except in college courses and in teacher training courses. 

The work given in the course on soils should be of a vocational 
character, i.e., the theoretical and abstract phases of the work may 
be largely omitted in the teaching of vocational agriculture. For 
example, in those parts of the United States where irrigation is 
not practiced because it is not necessary, the study of irrigation 
systems and methods of handling irrigation water should be 
omitted. In regions where drainage is seldom or never needed, 
the problems of drainage should be omitted from the course of 
study. In level prairie states the problems of erosion should 
be omitted. 

The study of soil formation may be considered prevocational 
in character. Such studies are better suited to elementary classes 
than to studies pursued in vocational agriculture. 

The study of marsh-land farming, or the studj^ of sands and 
their management, or the study of depleted clays and silts is 
chiefly of local importance and suited to special regions. 

Relation of Soils to Other Subjects.- — Much of the study of 
soils, so far as th(\v ai'e related to tiie ]:)i'oduction of horticultui'al 
crops, may be pursued in connection with the study of horticul- 
248 



RELATION OF SOILS TO OTHER SUBJECTS 



249 



tiire. In the course in gardening make considerable study of 
garden soils and their management. In the course in fruit grow- 
ing study fruit soils and their management. These subjects must 
contain such soil studies even if the students had a special course 
in soil work. 

In the course in field crops some work in soil management 
must be given (Fig. 119). The general work in soil improvement 




Fig. 119. — Teach students and farmers the importance of knowing the limiting 
factors in the soirs production. (W. W. Weir, "Productive Soils.") 



and soil management is closely associated with field crop work. 
It is difficult to study the subject of field crops without considering 
much of the work in soils. Yet many schools find it advisable to 
offer a course in soils and fertilizers independent of the field crop 
work. In such cases it is probably best to let the course in soils 
be given at the same time as the course in field crops. In some 
schools, however, the course in soils is given after the course in 
field crops. In either case it is for the purpose of giving a more 
extended and thorough treatment of soils and fertilizers than is 
possible when combined with agronomy. 



250 now ^I'O 'I'EACH SOILS 

Equipment for the Course in Soil Work. — In making up a com- 
plete ecjuipment for the soil laboratory, look over the list of 
apparatus in several of the soil laboratory manuals. The very 
full and complete lists in such manuals include many small items 
which need not be mentioned in this book. The laboratory should 
be weU equipped with all items necessary. It should be remem- 
bered, however, that many items of expense may be omitted by 
substituting apparatus of a cheaper nature or equipment used in 
other courses in the school. For example, if a deep-cup milk 
testing machine is owned by the school, it may be used in experi- 
ments in the analyzing of soils. Deep soil test tubes may be 
obtained to fit the centrifugal machine and it will then serve two 
important purposes. Many experiments in capillarity, percola- 
tion, apparent specific gravity, and others may use such simple 
equipment as lamp chimneys, glasses (Fig. 120), empt}^ tomato 
cans, cigar boxes, etc. If desired, a soil-packing machine may be 
omitted from the equipment by having the students pack the 
soil by dropping the container a given munber of inches for a given 
number of times on a pamphlet serving as a pad. 

Laboratory Apparatus.^ — Besides the laboratoiy apparatus the 
school should have models of work tables, sinks, running water, 
cases and containers for illustrative material, supplies of many 
types of soil ingredients for experimental work. It is well to have 
cupboards with glass doors for the apparatus, cupboards with 
wooden doors for the supplies, drawers for glassware, test tubes and 
small apparatus upon shelves for the setting up of experiments 
which are to run for many days. The room should be arranged so 
that laboratory tables are convenient for use of the students, and 
so that seats may be provided in the same room for recitation 
purposes. Have cases with shding frames for lantern slides. 
Have suitable shelves or upright cabinets for holding charts. 
There should be a drying oven, thermometers, a series of soil 
sieves, a few coarse sieves, soil auger, soil spade, drainage tools, 
glass tubing, test tubes, metal soil tubes, tall slender lamp chim- 
neys, glass soil tubes, a compound microscope, several small hand 
lenses, reading glass and stand, a soil centrifugal machine or a 
simple substitute in the form of a Babcock tester with pockets 
big enough to hold the glass soil tubes. 

Soil Supplies and Samples. — For experiments with soils provide 
good supplies of soils of various types from your region and other 

1 See also Chapter XV. 



CLASS WORK WITH SOILS 251 

parts of the state. Be sure to include very sandy soil, heavy clay 
soil, medium loam, and soils very rich in humus. Have available 
also supphes of Hme in several forms, such as rock dust, limekiln 
waste, air-slacked Hme, hydrated lime, and freshly burned quick- 
Ume. The latter should be excluded from the air by placing it in a 
lai'ge can and having it securely covered. Prepare a .set of small 
vials or tubes containing the proportionate parts of one or more 
soil analyses. Obtain also source materials for fertilizer mixtures. 
Soil Containers. — ^Let the school be well supplied with soil bins 
or with covered galvanized iron cans holding several gallons. 
Small samples of soil from various farms may be kept in bottles 
with glass stoppers. These should be plainly labeled. Many of 




Fig. 120. — -Many tests with fertilizers may be made in classes, tin cans, and flower pots. 

Here the trial is with different forms of lime in 1, 2, 3, and 4; compared with magnesia in 5. 

("Agriculture and Life.") 

the samples passed around for laboratory work or for examination 
in class may be in small vials, in paper trays, in Petri dishes, etc. 

Flower pots and large experimental pots of galvanized iron 
may be used in trials and demonstrations in the growth of plants 
under various kinds of treatment. 

Either in the laboratoiy or near by should be machines used 
in tillage of soils. These may be represented by good examples of 
machines of full size but of the smallest types. Others may be 
represented by models if these are obtainable. 

Class Work with Soils. — If the course in soils has been well 
planned, the needs of the region will have been considered. The 
soil phases of project work of farmers and students should be 
included in the course. The best rotation for permanent mainte- 
nance of the fertility of the land will be given due consideration 
(Fig. 121). 

The class work should be of such practical nature that students 
will feel the great value of each recitation and realize how closely 



252 



HOW TO TEACH SOILS 



it is connected with tlioir farm operations. Lesson assignments 
should be by topics and references to places in bulletins or books 
where these topics are discussed in the most practical manner. 
Abstruse and theoretical phases should be left to college courses 
and to courses where teachers of the subject are being trained. 
In assigning lessons, let students understand that they are to add 
their own experiences and observations to the reading which they do. 
Let the class work also be based upon teaching of laboratory 
experiments. Never allow students to perform experiments in 
the laboratory without reporting their results orally in class reci- 
tations as well as in written form in their notebooks. If the 



Fig. 121. 



Fig. 122. 




Fig. 121. 'r!,i.~ .^n.ili'iit i-.m ;i |ii <ri, , i ii[ -i-il nnprovement. Here he has t>t.ilil.-li(il a success- 
ful sod to turn uiultM. TIil- prolii i.s ilflcrnuiicd by assessment of land belore and after. 

(A. W. Hand, N. J.) 
Fig. 122. — Students studying soils and testing for acidity in a cotton field. (G. R. Ransom, 

Okla.) 

experiments are of use, the application of them to farm practice 
should be made and the class recitation should bring forth all 
such applications. 

Let the mistakes of fanners and neighbors in soil management 
be brought out for topics of discussion in class recitations (Fig. 
122). Also let the good practices in soil improvement and in 
permanently maintaining soil fei'tility and other good examples of 
soil management be clearly presented by students in class work. 

A Type Lesson in Soils.— Suppose the lesson assigned at a pre- 
ceding meeting of the class has been on the subject of liming of 
soils. I'he special topics of the assignment may be kinds of lim- 
ing; forms most available and prices of these; effects of liming 
on sandy soils of the region; effects of liming on heavy soils of the 



SOIL LABORATORY WORK 253 

region ; comparison of the effects of burnt lime and of crushed lime- 
stone ; relation of liming to growth of legumes ; relation of liming to 
upbuilding of depleted soils; connection between Uming and manu- 
ring of soils; methods and times for applying lime. , 

Special bulletins on liming of soils may be used by students in 
preparing this lesson. Several of these topics are well treated in 
texts and reference books on soil physics and management. Stu- 
dents may be able to inquire in the neighborhood for examples 
which will illustrate points on these topics. The more inquiry 
they make during the study of the assignments the better it will 
be for them and for the community. 

When the class recitation is presented, let the students assigned 
to the different topics be called upon. The examples which illus- 
trate various topics should use a good part of the recitation period. 
As each case is presented and reviewed the instructor should 
develop by skilful questioning and by summaries the teachings 
which they illustrate. 

I Several phases of this recitation may be illustrated with class- 
room demonstrations. For example, the experiments in showing 
the flocculation of clay by the use of lime on clay soils may be 
performed in test tubes before the class while the recitation is in 
progress. All the different forms of lime usually used for agricul- 
tural purposes should be examined by each member of the class. 
The action of each upon litmus paper may be shown by students 
performing demonstrations before the class. The forms of lime 
that are found to be most practical for purchase in that region 
should be studied with greatest attention. Then the methods of 
appljdng, amounts per acre, cost of liming and labor, best times 
of year and best times in the rotation for its use should be stressed. 
One or two arithmetical problems may be placed upon the board 
to illustrate to the class the value of liming as. a factor in soil 
improvement and crop production. Have the class learn by heart 
at recitation time the couplet: 

Lime and lime without manure 
Makes both farm and farmer poor. 

Soil Laboratory Work. — There are a number of good laboratoiy 
manuals which may be used as guides in formulating the laboratory 
course in soil study. Some of these relate to soil physics and others 
to fertihty. For students that are preparing themselves for voca- 
tional agricultm'e, both of these phases of the course should be 



254 



HOW TO TEACH SOILS 



included. In other words, the course should be a composite one, 
including the physics of soils, fertility of soils, and the manage- 
ment of soils. In order to formulate the course special manuals 
or guides may be selected for use. Plan the course by hours, days, 
and weeks for the term. Select the exercises which the students 
are to perform in the laboratory. List these exercises and give 
references to manuals for each. Enough copies of these laboratory 

3 




12 3 

Fig. 123. — A scheme for experimental plots with trials of four east and west and three north 
and south. Suppose the experiment is with alfalfa 1-1, red clover" 2-2, and crimson clover 
3-3. Across these plots let the cross strip A-A be both limed and inoculated properly for 
each kind; let B-B have lime only; let C~C have inoculation only; let D~D have neither lime 
nor inoculation. Otherwise the plots will be treated alike. 

manuals may be kept in the laboratory for use of the members of 
the class. The outline of the c()urs(> may ])e either posted in the 
laboratory or a copy of it may be kept in the front of each student's 
laboratory notebook. 

In most vocational courses in agriculture it is not absolutely 
necessary that all students perform all of the experiments. These 
need not always be performed in regular order. Much less equip- 
ment is needed if only a few students perform the same experi- 
ments at the same time. Some of the students may try percolation 



SOIL LABORATORY WORK 



255 



experiments while others are testing the capillarity of different 
soils of their farms. Some may be working on lime while others 
are working with the effects of hmnus on soils. In the recitations 
which follow the laboratory exercises students must show that they 
are gaining by lessons from the laboratory work. Even though 
some of the students are not required to perform all of the exercises 
in the course, they will have gained much from the exercises per- 
formed by other students and by the recitation following them. 

Certain students may be required to prepare composts for 
garden work. This may precede or accompany their projects in 
the growing of garden crops. Some students who are pursuing 




Fig. 124. — Teach students that soil with a baked crust cannot retain moisture, while a dust 

rriulch will conserve it. Teach also the effect of foot pressure on loose soil. (Right, from 

Dunham Co., Berea, O.) 

field crop projects may make special tests in metal cylinders to 
demonstrate the value of special fertilizers in the growth of those 
crops. If students have projects in the growth of legumes, they 
may demonstrate the need or lack of need for inoculation of soils 
l)y growing young plants of these crops in pots or cylinders. If 
it is desirable, these trials may be made more efficient by having 
the tests in plots outdoors. The mixing of fertilizers for special 
crops to be grown by students in their project work will be of 
value. Such exercises may be performed in the winter before it 
is time to start the field work. 

In testing soils for acidity (Fig. 122), and in the study of the 
physical composition of soils, let each student use samples from 
his own home place if possible. He will then know more about his 
own soils and can act directly on the results of his laboratory trials. 



256 HOW TO TEACH SOILS 

Laboratory Exercises in Soils. — TIk' following list of exercises 

is giv(Mi for aid of teaclici-s in forniiilating a suitable course in 
laboratory work. These are taken from five laboratory manuals 
to which reference is given. The manuals are: 

(1) "Soils Laboratory Manual and Notebook" by Eastman and Davis 
(Lippincott) ; (2) "Soil Physics Laboratory Guide" by Stevenson and Schaub 
(Orange Judd); (3) "Soil Physics Laboratory Manual" by Mosier and Gustaf- 
son (Ginn); (4) "A Manual of Soil Physics" by Barker and Young (Ginn); 
(5) "Physical Properties of Soils" by Arthur G. McCall (Orange Judd). 

These are referred to after each exercise by the number just 
given. The instructor should read over the list of exercises some- 
what carefully and refer to them in the manuals before deciding 
which ones he wishes to include in the course in his o^vm school. 

Taking Soil Samples 1, 2, 3. 

Studying Soil Grains 1, 4. 

Composition of Soils 1. 

Soil Classification 1,4. 

Volume Weight or Apparent Specific Gravity 1, 2, 3. 

True Specific Gravity 1, 2, 3, 4. 

Heavy and Light Soils 1. 

Effects and Determination of Organic Matter 1, 2, 3, 4. 

Effect of Lime and Other Chemicals on a Clay Soil 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Moisture Determination 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Capillary Rise of Water in Soils 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Effect of too Much Organic Matter on Rise of Water 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Percolation of Water Through Soils 1, 2, 3. 

Clod Formation and Crusting 1,2. 

Effect of Soil Surface and Cultivation on Percolation and Tem- 
perature 1 , 2, 3, 4. 

Capacity of Loose and Compact Soil to Hold Water 1, 2, 3. 

Effect of Evaporation on Soil Temperature 1, 2, 4. 

Value of Mulches in the Retention of Moisture 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Optimum and Critical Moisture 1. 

Drainage and Soil Temperature 1, 2, 4. 

Effect of Color on Soil Tempera tine 1, 2, 3, 4. 

Soil Ventilation 1,5. 

Absorption and Retention of Plant Food by Soils 1, 5. 

Testing Soils for Acidity 1,4. 

Examination of C-hemical Fertilizers 1. 

Study of Plowing 1. 

Examination and Discussion of Tillage Machinery '. 1 . 

The Effect of Alternate Wetting and Drying upon Granulation . 2, 4. 
The Effect of Alternate Freezing and Thawing upon Granulation 2, 4. 

The Effect of Organic Matter on Granulation 1, 2, 4. 

The Absorption of Gases by Soils 4. 

Transference of Heat in Soils 4. 

Specific Heat of Soils 3, 4, 5. 

Determination of Pore Space in Soils 2, 5. 

Effect of Rolling on Evaporation and Moisture 1,2. 

Mechanical Analysis of Soils 2, 3, 4, 5. 



STUDYING SOILS IN THE FIELD 



257 



Studjring Soils in the Field. — Classes may be taken to the fields 
of their homes or neighboring places. There they should learn 
such lessons as how to know whether or not soils need inoculation 
for special crops. They should study the needs of the fields with 
reference to drainage, terracing (Figs. 125 and 128), irrigation, 
prevention of erosion, addition of humus, prevention of heaving, etc. 

They should learn also the value of special crops for soil im- 
provement, winter covers, green manure, and prevention of wash- 




FiG. 125. 



-Gullies have been stopped and graded 
(E. H. Thompson.) 



•I work. 



ing. They can contrast good and bad ways of handling manure j 
the effects of special fertilizers; the influence of certain crops on 
percolation; the effect of certain treatment on alkali soils; suit- 
ability of certain crops to sandy soils, or marsh soils. 

On such field trips students should consult with owners and 
study methods and management in detail. Learn how they could 
apply the lessons on their own places. They should always take 
notes of the lessons learned. They should discuss the lessons 
later in class meetings. They should be able to use the results of 
such field studies in the various assignments of class-room work 
and recitations. 
17 



258 



HOW TO TEACH SOILS 




Fig. 126. — Reclaiming the desert. Preparing raw land for a grain project, Florence, Arizona. 

(V. B. Anderson.) 



Fig. 127. 



Fig. 128. 




Fig. 127. — Students of vocational agrioultun' niiminL' ((irir - nii machine. (E. H. 

Thompson, Okla.) 

Fig. 12S. — Have students practice filling ditches with terrace machines. (E. H. Thompson, 

Okla.) 

Judging Soil Conditions. — Not only the novice but often the 
experienced farmer has much difficulty in judging the condition 



JUDGING SOIL CONDITIONS 259 

of the soil, as to whether it is fit to plow or not, fit to plant or not; 
whether the moisture is too much or too little, and whether certain 
treatments of the soil would be best. 

Frequent exercises in judging soil conditions should be con- 
ducted by the instructor with his students. Some of the following 
questions will be suitable to use on different occasions or under 
different circmnstances before the ground is plowed: 

1. Is the soil warm enough for spring plowing? 

2. Is the soil too dry for fall plowing? 

3. What tests would be required to answer the two preceding questions? 

4. To what depth can the soil be plowed without injuring the texture? 

5. Would plowing under present conditions be best or should it have been 
plowed earlier or be plowed later? Why? 

If ground is already plowed when the judging exercise is being conducted, 
the following questions should be answered : 

6. How deep was the ground plowed? 

7. Was the plowing too shallow or too deep? 

8. Has ground been harrowed since plowing? 

9. If not, should it have been harrowed? When? 

10. Why should spring plowing always be harrowed immediately after 
plowing? 

11. What effect would a plank drag have on the field if used at the time 
of your visit? 

12. Would other conditions be better for this operation than now? 

13. Effect of disking now or later? 

14. Effect of use of spike-toothed harrow now or later? 

15. What operations are best to put the field in good seed condition for 
small seed, as grass or clover? 

16. For corn or cotton? 

17. For potatoes? 

If the judging exercise is being held whUe the crop is growing, the following 
questions should be answered: 

18. What kind of tillage is now needed? 

19. Has deep or shallow tillage been conducted preceding your visit? 

20. In early spring would a roller or harrow on the grain field be most 
useful? Why? 

21. Is the soil rather too sandy for hay crops? 

22. Is the soU rather too heavy for potatoes or sweet potatoes? 

23. What signs of good fertihty do you find? 

24. What signs of impoverished soil do you find? 

25. What signs for need of hming do you find? 

26. WTiat signs of bad handling when too wet or too dry do you find? 

27. What remedies would you suggest? 

28. Do you think subsoiling would suit this field? Why? 

29. WTiat indications are there of lack of humus or abundance of humus? 

30. Does the soil need draining? 

31. Would irrigation be practical? 

Students should ask themselves these questions frequently 
when in the field. Too much skill in the judging of soil conditions 
cannot be attained by even the very best farmers. Formulate 



260 



HOW TO TEACH SOILS 



plans and operations which would suit conditions to be found at 
any and all times. 

Soil Surveys. — Rather early in the term the instructor and 
students should plan to make a soil survey covering the territory 
as thoroughly as possible. This survey may be brief and need 
not require much time. If the questions are made at school and 
the blanks are taken home by pupils, they may be returned within 
a day or two. Some students will be able to obtain the data called 
for in the blanks from their own home places and from several 
neighbors, if time for this will permit. Topics which should be 
included in such a survey are here suggested : ^ 



Name. 

Size of farm. 

Area devoted to each crop. 

Soil sandy or heavy. 

Acres damaged from erosion. 

Acres underdrained or ditch drained. 

Acres of winter cover crops. 

How barnyard manure is kept. 

Acres limed. 

Crops on limed fields. 

Kinds of fertihzer. 

Is it considered profitable? 



Location from school. 

Leachng crops grown. 

Yield per acre for each. 

What fruits are grown? 

Acres terraced. 

Acres under irrigation. 

Acres of green manure plowed under. 

When applied to fields. 

Rate of application. 

Acres of commercial fertilizer. 

Crops grown with fertilizer. 

Field rotation followed. 



Lime Survey. — The object of this survey is to determine the 
practices of the farmers in any region regarding the use of lime in 
crop production. The following questions may be included on a 
lime survey card: 



Name of farmer. 

Location. 

Renter or owner. 

Kind of soil. 

Number of years liming has been 

practiced. 
For what crops. 
Upland or lowland. 
Usual rotation. 
At what stage in the rotation is lime 

used? 
At what stage in soil preparation? 
Frequency of liming. 



Amount of lime per acre. 

Kind of lime. 

First cost of hme. Cost of hauhng. 

Freight. 
Do you use your own crusher? 
Community crusher. 
Effects of liming noticed. 
W'hat increase in yields? 
Do you test your soil with litmus 

paper? 
Other indications of need of lime. 
Have clovers failed for want of 

lime? 



Charts for Soil Teaching.^ — Many charts can be made by 
schools for use in teaching lessons in soil management. These 
charts will be useful in regular class work, in short courses, and 

^ See also suggestions for farm surveys in Chapter V. 
3 See also Chapter XVL 



THE VALUE OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY 261 

in farmers' institutes. Suitable material for making these charts 
may be gleaned from experiment station bulletins and govermnent 
publications. A few suggestions for charts are here given : 

1. Make a chart on the losses from badly stored manure. Show the 
percentage of loss of nitrogen and other fertiUzing ingredients due to leaching 
and heating. Represent these percentages in bar graphs of different lengths. 
The results from good methods may be contrasted with the results from 
poor methods. 

2. Shocks of hay of different sizes may be used to show the effects of liming 
on the yields of clover, alfalfa, and other crops. This chart may give the cost 
of Ume per acre and increase in jdeld due to liming. Thus the profit from liming 
may be shown. 

3. Make a chart comparing the effects of yields from three different 
treatments of soil, viz., plowing under green manure, applying barnyard 
manure, using complete fertiHzers. The quantity of nitrogen in these should 
be the same. Get the results from some bulletin reporting a trial already 
made. The yields may be shown in bar graphs, or in shocks of hay of 
proportionate sizes. 

4. Make a chart showing the importance of supplying the fertihty in the 
soil which is most needed. A barrel of water may be shown, the barrel having 
staves of different heights. Each of the staves may be labeled to represent 
a particular plant food of the soil. The shortest stave will limit the capacity 
of the barrel. 

5. Make a chart showing the relative amounts of plant food removed 
from soil by all the various crops or products sold from the farm. The per- 
centages may be represented by bar graphs of different lengths. (See Woll's 
"Productive Feeding of Farm Animals.") 

6. Make another giving the benefits of home mixing of fertiUzers. 

7. The effects of himius on soils may be worked out into a good chart. 

8. Make a chart comparing the methods of handhng barnyard manure. 

9. Winter cover crops may form the subject of a good chart. 

10. Dust mulch and shallow cultivation may be combined in a single chart. 

11. The benefits of drainage; methods of drainage; cost of drainage; soil 
aeration; soil moisture — each of these may be the subject of a special chart. 

Lantern Slides for the Teaching of Soils. — Schools supplied 
with stereopticons should have a number of good lantern slides 
showing the effects of growth of crops by the use of lime, fertilizers, 
and good tillage. Contrast each of these, if possible, with other 
slides. If local pictures can be taken, the school can make its own 
lantern slides from the negatives. Take pictures showing the 
growth of green manure crops, operations in Inning, good tillage 
implements on various farms while in use, and many other 
local views. 

The Value of Physics and Chemistry in the Study of Soils. — 
Much of the work in studying soils is founded upon principles in 
physics or involves a knowledge of chemistry. It is, therefore, 
important to have students take these fundamental sciences as 
early as possible in their courses. If one or both of these sciences 



262 HOW TO TEACH SOILS 

can be pursued by students preceding or parallelinp; the course 
in soils, the students will gain nuich more from the soils course. 

It is very important that students who are planning to teach 
the subject of soils should have a knowledge of both physics and 
chemistry. Many of the lessons in soils involve principles taught 
in physics, such as porosity, specific gravity, specific heat, 
evaporation, and capillarity. Chemical knowledge is required in 
the thorough understanding of problems of soil fertility and the 
relation of these to crop production. 

Plot Trials for Teaching Soils. — Many lessons in soil manage- 
ment may be demonstrated on small plots in the garden or land 
laboratory of the school. Trials with small amounts of different 
varieties of garden and field crops may be made. The effects of 
fertilizers of different kinds and amounts and of lime may be shown 
on such plots. Soil management of various kinds may be contrasted, 
as the effects of rolling and not rolling, the effect of harro\\ang 
after rolling, the effect of subsoiling, and the effect of double plowing. 

It is a good plan to have some of these trials run crosswise of 
others (Fig. 123). For example, when alfalfa is sown at three 
different times to show the effects of time of seeding, these three 
plots may be treated with cross plots run at right angles to the 
other. One of these cross plots has artificial inoculation; another 
is hmed and inoculated; another is the check plot and another is 
limed only. 

Soils Work in Rural Schools. — Many lessons on soils can be 
taught to students in rural schools. They are close to the soil 
and yet know little about it. Many of the lessons in soil physics 
should be taught. With simple apparatus such as lamp chimneys, 
tomato cans, and small Iwxes, glasses (P'ig. 120), and other cheap 
apparatus many experiments may be tried in the school-room 
showing the different kinds of soil moisture, lessons in capillarity, 
percolation, effects of mulching, effects of packing and rolling, 
the bad effects of allowing soils to crust, the effects of color on 
soil temperature, and many others. Lessons can be made from 
trials in the cormnunity showing effects of certain treatments in 
improvement of soils and in maintenance of soil fertility. Students 
may be taught to run levels for simple work in terracing or con- 
touring of fields. 

Make all the soil studies pursued in rural schools as practical 
as possible. Base upon the experiences of students. Teach 
a few important lessons and stress these few lessons in many 



SHORT COURSES IN SOILS WORK 263 

ways by examples found on different farms. Suppose you wish to 
teach students to test soils for acidity, a few cents' worth of Utmus 
paper is all the equipment needed. Students may be shown how 
to make the test, then each should be required to test one or more 
fields of his home place and report results. Build upon this trial 
with lessons on liming, the effects of liming, the possible improve- 
ment of soil as result of growing legume crops after liming. Then 
the effects of growing any crop desired because the land has 
been rejuvenated. 

Teaching Soils in Town Grades. — The suggestions given imder 
the heading of rural schools in this chapter should be read again 
in this connection. The more simple lessons and experiments can 
well be tried in the grades of villages and cities. Pupils should 
become familiar with different types of soil and study them by 
examining the particles and trying various experiments with them. 
Include sand, clay, silt, loam, dark humus soils, etc. 

If the students of these grades are pursuing home projects in 
gardening, they will be much more interested in the soils work. 
This is a much better way of teaching lessons in soils, i.e., in con- 
nection \vith projects of growing garden crops. Try to make all 
of the lessons in soils given to these children apply to some project 
which they have tried or are pursuing. They may be taught 
how to make a compost heap and use the lawn mowings and leaves 
raked from lawns to produce humus for their gardens. All details 
of soil treatment may be taught (Fig. 124). 

Short Courses in Soils Work. — ^As a general thing, short courses 
in agriculture give very little special work on soil theories. Prac- 
tical methods of improving soils (Fig. 125), the special uses of 
lime and other liming problems, the use of fertilizers for special 
crops, other special treatments of soils for various crops, soil 
inoculation for legumes, the care and best use of barnyard manure, 
the protection and use of green manure — these and similar topics 
may well be offered in short courses in regions where they would 
do the most good. 

Use charts, lantern slides, soil samples, lime samples, fertilizer 
samples, specimens of crops suitable for growth for green manur- 
ing. Field trips should be freely employed for the teaching of 
practical short course lessons. Students may be taken out in the 
field for exercises in terracing and drainage. Places should be 
found where the short-course students can witness the steps in the 
rejuvenation of depleted soils. 



264 HOW TO TEACH SOILS 

Let classes also witness the use of special forms of plows, sub- 
surface packers, tractor attachments, and other machinery used 
in the tillage of soils (Fig. 126). 

Things to Discover in Soils Work. — A few of the many things 
that students should try to discover in their soil studies are 
here suggested: 

(1) What crops are best adapted to use on each of the types of soil on 
your farm? (2) If certain crops which you would like to grow are unsuccessful, 
determine, if possible, what amendments can be appUed to the soil to make it 
suitable. '(3) Discover the physical faults in your soil; if too tight or too loose, 
apply proper remedies. (4) Discover the very best rotation system for the 
permanent maintenance of your soils. (5) Discover the chemical shortages 
in your soil and supply the proper fertility. (6) Discover what legiunes require 
inoculation before growth on your soils. 

Problems to Solve in Soils Work. — Besides the discoveries such 
as those mentioned in the i:)receding paragraph there are many 
other problems to solve which are closely allied to farm manage- 
ment. A few are suggested: 

1. What crops can be best grown on lands which are in danger of serious 
erosion? 

2. How can eroded soils be redeemed yet produce crops during the process 
of redemption? 

3. How can erosion already started be best stopped and prevented? 
(Figs. 125 to 128.) 

4. How can one best detennine the use of fields which seem to be non- 
productive for crops thus far tried on them? 

5. The best use of marsh lands is a serious problem on limited areas in 
nearly all states. 

6. Light sandv soils offer serious problems in crop production. 

7. Many special problems arise in the growth of market garden crops 
and vegetable gardening^ such as the best ways of increasmg the hmnus con- 
tent, maintaining friability, maintaining soil moisture, etc. 

8. Problems of land drainage are often difficult to solve (Fig. 129). Will 
it pay to underdrahi the land? Where can the water be carried? How can I 
get my neighbor to cooperate? How can I drain off water without his 
cooperation? 

9. Would subsoiling increase yield of crops enough to pay for the labor? 
10. Would hming of land increase yields enough to pay for the cost? 

Discussions Relating to Soils.— Teach students to discuss soil 
problems at home. For example, have the class look over such 
soils problems as those suggested in the preceding paragraph and 
such points as those suggested in former paragraphs. Get 
them to take up these matters with their parents and neighbors. 
This will start considerable discussion among the people. It may 
cause a number of them to adopt better methods of farming. 
Lack of discussion is often one of the chief drawbacks to sue- 



DISCUSSIONS RELATING TO SOILS 



265 



cessful farming. The thoughtful farmer ponders over many of 
these problems but is uncertain as to the best steps to take. 




Fig. 129. — Student.- 



running levels for drainage lines. (E. H. Thompson, 
Okla.) 




Fig. 130.-^Student practice work on the school land. (P. L. v_..ii;iji.ai, ;,a.) 

Discussion will aid materially in reaching satisfactory conclusions. 
Get each member of the class to bring to the school many soil 



266 



HOW TO TEACH SOILS 



problems of his own home place. Get each to inquire at home what 
soil problems and difficulties are in the minds of the owners. 
When these matters are brought before the class for solution they 
will stimulate much thought among the members and much profit- 
able discussion may result. 

Some debatable topics are plowing in fall or spring; early and 

late plowing for wheat; laying tile in fall or spring; time for plowing 

under a cover crop; harrowing soil before plowing. Think of others.* 

Things to Read in Soil Studies. — After the members of the class 

have been induced to bring to 
the school many home farm 
prol)lcms, suitable references may 
be given them for reading about 
these problems. Some of the 
exact problems are doubtless dis- 
cussed in bulletins and books 
to which the instructor can make 
reference. Students should be 
taught to look up many readings 
of this kind through the use of 
indexes of books and the tables 
of contents of bulletins. 

Make lists of suitable articles 
on soil problems in the current 
agricultural journals. The topics 
discussed should be entered on 
fiUng cards with proper refer- 
ences. These cards may be used 
to members of the soils class. 
People of the community desiring to pursue reading in connec- 
tion with soils may be given bulletins relating to the special topics 
they wish to investigate. The bulletins may be issued on library 
cards and returned according to the system of circulating libraries. 
Observations in Soils Work. — When students have been well 
taught to observe carefully the many points in connection with 
soils work, manj^ valuable lessons may be gained therefrom. They 
should observe closely the differences in soils and where one type 
blends into another. They should observe the effects of harrowing 
on soils that are rather wet and see how quickly the water will 
disa{)pear downward. They should observe the effects of lime 

* See topics for debate in Chapter XI. 




Fig. 131. — Pursuint; home projects for profit 

induces students to perform such work as 

spreading manure without objecting. (E. 

H. Thompson, Okla.) 



in making reading assignments 



REFERENCE BOOKS ON SOILS 



267 



when applied to heavy clay soils in the field. They should observe 
the direct influence of heavy applications of manure for such 
special crops as asparagus, strawberries, cabbages, and corn. They 
should oljserve the effects of sowing small grains on land that is 
too loose as compared with, well-packed soil. They should observe 
the special effects of any usual or unusual forms of tillage. They 
should observe the effects of gro\\dng farm crops after clover in 
rotation systems. 

Things to Do in Soils Work. — Farmers and students who are 
to work 'wdth soils should learn many operations by frequent prac- 
tice, or in other ways, to make them skilful in soil operations 
(Figs. 130 and 131). Learn to run straight furrows in laying off 
lands for plowing. Learn to mark off rows well for planting fields. 




Fig. 132. — This student learned at school how to operate and repair a tractor. He plowed 

land for a neighbor who owned the tractor, then rented it and plowed for his own project, 

for his father, and for others. 

Learn to detect when soils are too wet or too dry for proper hand- 
ling. Learn to plow well (Fig. 132), particularly in the turning 
under of crops and heavy applications of manure. Learn to pre- 
pare seed-beds well. Learn to maintain soil mulches perfectly. 
Learn to grow crops under level culture methods. Learn to kill 
weeds before they can be seen. Learn to handle manure without 
allowing it to leach or to heat. Learn to lay tile drains well. 
Learn to use the dry-land farming methods even in humid climates. 
Many other practices in soils may be suggested by instructors, and 
skilful operations may be learned by students. 

Reference Books on Soils.^ — Include on the reference shelves 
books on soils experiments at the leading experiment stations; 

5 See also Chapter XVII. 



268 HOW TO TEACH SOILS 

books on soils physics; books on farm management with reference 
to special types of farming; books on farm management with 
reference to crop rotations and soil maintenance; books on fertil- 
izers and soil fertility. 

Bulletins on Soils.*' — Secure the latest lists of farmers ' bulletins 
relating to soils and fertilizers from each of the state experiment 
stations and from the United States Department of Agriculture. 
The latter may be obtained from the office of Agricultural Educa- 
tion in the States Relations Service. Send for all of the available 
bulletins relating to the general subject of soils and soil fertility. 
These may then be classified according to the best system as 
suggested in another chapter of this book. 

Journals Relating to Soils.'' — A number of periochcals are pub- 
lished for farmers and for scientists which contain departments 
of miscellaneous articles on soils. Select the best of these for the 
particular purposes of the school. If these are carefully indexed 
from time to time, students can make good use of them in their 
work. As each periodical appears the articles relating to soils 
and fertiUzers may be mentioned on sheets which are posted in a 
convenient place for the use of all. Let articles from these period- 
icals be reported to the class by certain students to whom the 
articles are assigned for reading. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make a list of laboratory apparatus to be used in teaching soils, that 
you could make or have students make. 

2. Make one or more of these pieces of apparatus. 

3. Take twenty samples of soils and subsoil, using several methods. 

4. Get materials and weigh out quantities sufficient to make one hundred 
pounds of a definite composition, as 2-8-6. Mix these in the presence of the 
class or others. 

.5. Make three or more soils charts useful in class-room or farmers' meetings 
(). Conduct a hrne survey for a limited area. 

7. Make three or more type lessons in soils. 

8. Make a collection of soil samples, by mail or otherwise, including all 
the chief tyjDes of the state. 

9. Write to the U. S. Bureau of Soils for a list of the soils maps of your 
state and get those which will be most valuable to you. 

10. Perform three or more of the laboratory exercises in the presence 
of your class or others for practice in this kind of work. 

11. Conduct an exercise for studying soils in the field. 

12. Conduct a soil survey with such an outhne as given in this chapter. 

13. Make a drawing of a number of plots on the school land laboratory 
for the growth of plants used in the study of soils. Plan all details. 

14. From the list of laboratory exerci.ses given here formvdate a course 
which you would give. 

« See also Chapter XVII. 



QUESTIONS 269 

QUESTIONS 

1. State the specific aim in the study of soils. 

2. What is the scope of this subject? 

3. Tell something of the relation of soils to other agricultural subjects. 

4. Suggest special methods in teaching soils. 

5. Give a list of equipment for the course in soils work. 

6. Mention a number of questions which arise while judging soil conditions 

in the field. 

7. Give points for an outhne of a lime survey. 

8. Mention several kinds of soil containers: (a.) for passing around samples 

in the laboratory; (b) for storing soils in the laboratory; (c) for exhibiting 
soil types on the shelves. 

9. Review a type lesson in soils. 

10. Tell how to prepare a garden compost. 

11. Tell how to test soils for acidity. 

12. Tell how to test soils for lime. 

13. Give points to be included in a soil survey. 

14. Suggest several subjects for soil charts. 

15. How may lantern slides be useful in teaching soils? 

16. Tell of the value of physics and chemistry in the study of soils. 

17. Of what value are plot trials in studying soils? 

18. Give suggestions for the teaching of soils in rural schools; in town grades. 

19. Tell something of the content of a short course in soils in your locality. 

20. Suggest things to discover in soils work. 

21. What are some of the problems to be solved by students in soils work? 

22. How can you start discussions related to soils, among students and 

their parents? 

23. Give examples of supplementary reading related to soil studies. 

24. What observations should students be taught to make in this subject? 



CHAPTER XIII 

HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

A liome project should include each of the following: (1) There must be 
a plan of work covering a season or other extended period of time; (2) it must 
be a part of the instruction in agriculture, of the school; (3) there must be a 
problem more or less new to the pupil; (4) the parents and pupil should agree 
with the teacher upon the plan; (5) some competent person must supervise the 
home work; (6) detailed records of time, method, cost, and income must be 
correctly kept on suitable forms; (7) a written report based on the record must 
be submitted to the teacher. 

If a project is participated in by several students as a class or part of a 
class, it would be considered a {/roup projict. If the essential parts of the proj- 
ect are th(> work of one pupil, it would be called an imlindual projed. Accord- 
ing to the chief aim, projects may be classified as (a) productive projects in 
which the chief aim is to jjroduce any agricultural jiroduct at a profit; (b) trial 
projects in which the chief aim is to test materials and methods in agricultural 
practice new to the student; (c) improvement projects in which the chief aim 
is to make improvement with hope of little immediate return; and (d) manage- 
ment projects in which the chief aim is to apply efficiently the general principles 
of farm management. — -Condensed from Report on Agriculture of the N. E. A. 
Commission on Reorganization of Secondary Education. 

So MUCH has been said in recent years regarding the vahie of 
teaching agriculture by home project methods that Httle need be 
said here regarding that phase of the subject. It was in the field 
of agriculture that the home project method of instruction was 
first successfully demonstrated. Agricultural projects have so 
frequently formed the basis for school-room instruction that few 
teachers will fail to realize the value of this plan of carrying on 
the school work. 

The term project as here used involves the time element. An 
exercise performed in one laboratory period should not be consid- 
ered a project. A number of exercises are sometimes combined 
and called a project, if they are closely connected with each other 
and lead to the same general end or aim. 

In the broad sense, a project is a far-reaching aim. It is usually 
not made up of a series of similar exercises, but includes all studies, 
exercises, practices, operations — alike and unlike — which lead to 
a definite aim in the mind of the person doing these things. 

Agricultural projects, particularly home projects, pursued by 
students who are studying agriculture should have the profit factor 
in them; as growing a crop of wheat for profit, raising a litter of 
pigs for profit, fattening a bunch of steers for profit, renovating 
an apple orchard for profit. 
270 



WHO AGREES TO THE PROJECT AND ITS SCOPE? 271 

Improvement projects which do not ahvays include the profit 
element are sometimes pursued by students. Sometimes me- 
chanical projects are really, in the end, improvement projects or 
have maintenance features in place of the profit features. 

Major and Minor Projects. — Wlien students are performing 
long-time projects in any field of agriculture, these projects are 
often coextensive with the study of the particular subject in 
which that project falls, as laid down in the curriculum of the 
school. If a high school student, for example, is pursuing the sub- 
ject of field crops for one year in his school course, he may raise 
an annual crop as his project — corn, wheat, potatoes, cotton. 
Such projects may be designated as major projects. These may 
or may not continue longer than the time devoted to the particular 
branch in the course. When horticulture is taught for half a year 
in the school the student may pursue a project in orcharding which 
will continue for one or more years. 

The term minor project is used in two senses: (1) It is some 
operation or part of a major project, as spraying an orchard or 
marketing the crop; (2) it is a short-time project which is complete 
in itself, as buying a bunch of pigs and feeding them one month 
and selling them again. 

Scope of Projects. — Whenever a student undertakes a project 
in agriculture he should formulate definitely the scope of the 
project, the limit of time — when it is to begin and when it is 
to end; the factors, elements, animals, or plants which are to be 
concerned in it. 

The statement of the scope should be such that it will be con- 
sistent with the seasons, with the probable development of the 
crop, and of the animals being grown. It should be such that the 
jirol^abilities of profit are favorable. 

Who Agrees to the Project and Its Scope? — When students are 
living at home and studying agriculture in a school they may 
readily conduct home projects w^hich are pursued all or part of the 
time during school months. They can pursue such projects more 
intensively during vacation months. The projects in such cases 
should be planned in cooperation with the parents and the agri- 
cultural instructor. All three should agree to the main features 
to be included in the project and the scope which the project 
is to cover. The father agrees to supply operating capital and the 
place for the working out of the project. The income derived from 
the project is to be used first to pay all costs of the project and 



272 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

second, to pay the student for his labor, and third, to pay profits 
for good management. 

The student and father both agn^e to follow the instructions 
of the teacher and to perform the operations in the project accord- 
ing to the best methods laid down in the references given by the 
teacher of agriculture. 

Writing the Plans of the Project. — Not only the scope of the 
time and field to be covered by the project, but also the plans or 
steps to be followed in pursuing the work should be written at the 
beginning or very soon afterwards. It is not necessary that the 
steps be inflexible. Indeed, they should be quite flexible and sub- 
ject to new conditions that arise from time to time in the progress 
of the work. It is safe to say that no "cut and dried" plan can be 
followed absolutely. 

The value of having a plan made in advance helps both the 
student and the instructor to know about what is to be the progress 
of the work. The parent also will know better what is expected of 
the student. In one sense, it fixes the scope of the work better 
in the mind of the student and his father. 

Project Operations.- — After the scope of the project has been 
determined, the student, with the aid of the instructor, should first 
write out the steps in the project from beginning to end. These 
steps are really the project operations taken in order from begin- 
ning to end. They must have seasonal sequence, particularly if 
they are crop projects. The steps can be foreseen, to a great extent, 
when the project is planned. Of course, minor steps may be added 
later. When examined as a whole, some changes may be suggested 
and perhaps new or different steps may be planned for part of the 
work. The student may have omitted some important elements, 
as spraying, the use of fertilizers, the growing of a cover crop, or 
other step necessary for the success of the project. After the steps 
are revised and ready to be copied again, they should be written 
in the student's permanent project book. 

Topics for Study Involved in Each Operation. — The instructor 
should show the student how to choose topics for study under each 
step of the project work. A rather complete list of these topics 
should be written in a notebook for each of the project operations. 
After the student has been shown how to begin his choice of topics he 
maylieallowed to choose topics for the remaining steps in his project. 

The student and instructor working together should review care- 
fully all of the lists of topics and revise them. These should then be 



KEEPING NOTES OF TOPICS STUDIED 273 

Avritten up carefully in such form as to leave room for citations, or 
references, to books and bulletins where the topics are well discussed. 
Making Citations to Project Topics. — First, the instructor may 
suggest to the student a nmnber of books and bulletins which dis- 
cuss the general subject of the whole project. For example, if 
the project consists in growing a field of potatoes for profit, the 
instructor may give the student a list of references where potato 
growing is well considered — a few farmers' bulletins, certain books 
devoted to potatoes, as Gilford and Grub, and Frazier. For the 
fertilizing of potatoes one or two authors on fertilizers might be 
cited. Some books on general field crops might be included in 
the list given to the student. After receiving this list from the 
instructor, the student should take each of the topics, find where 
they are discussed in several of these bulletins and books and write, 
in a suitable place, after the topics the author and page. Without 
stopping to study these, he may go on through the entire hst of 
topics and write out the citations in definite form for future study. 

Project Book Forms. — Various project books are published or 
forms suggested by state supervisors, by teacher training depart- 
ments in colleges, and by the Federal Board for Vocational Edu- 
cation. The outlines suggested by the plans pubUshed in this 
chapter are not intended to be followed by students in their actual 
pursuits of project work. They are merely suggestive and should 
be revised and written into the student's notebook, or project book. 

Published Outlines of Projects.^ — Several state boards for 
vocational education have published outlines for project studies. 
Write to yom* state supervisor for such as are available. The 
published outlines should not be considered as suitable to all 
schools nor to all farms where such projects are pursued. They 
should be revised to meet special conditions. Even the scope of 
the outline may not be the same as will be desired by the student, 
parent, and instructor. The purpose of published outlines is to 
suggest to students topics for projects, steps in the operation, 
topics which may or may not be included, and perhaps direct the 
student roughly in the details of making citations. 

After- the student and instructor revise one of these pubUshed 
outlines to suit the particular farm where the project is to be pur- 
sued, it is still subject to further revision as the project progresses. 

Keeping Notes of Topics Studied. — If state forms are pubhshed 
for keeping notes on the topics studied, they should be used by 

1 See Lathrop'.s " Manual and Notebook on Field Crops." 
18 



274 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

students in schools. If no such forms are published, the instructor 
should designate what type of notebook will be best for the purpose 
and topics to be outlined. Topics studied should be outlined 
in a notebook. Perhaps the notes that differ from each citation 
for that topic may be kept distinct, but not necessarily so. These 
notes should be used by students in reporting their topics to the 
class. Some state forms require that the notes on citations from 
different places be kept distinct. When this plan is followed, the 
number of the bulletin and the pages read should be given for 
each outline or title studied. If the references are to books, papers, 
and magazines, the citations in each case should be written with 
the notes taken by the student in studying that topic. 

Record of Performance of Project Operations. — Students 
should be taught to keep notes under such a head as this, in their 
notebooks or in special state forms. If the project be with crops, 
the kind of notes taken will be very different from those taken with 
animal projects. In the latter type of projects the notes will 
relate more to daily operations, changes in operations, variations 
in plans, and reasons for them. 

Observations on the Project. — One section of the student's 
notebook should be devoted to observations on the project and 
may be headed in this way if desired. Many observations may be 
made which will be of value to the student making them. Students 
should be encouraged to become observant and should be taught 
to write the notes on their observations intelligently and in good 
form for use in reporting to the class, or to the instructor from 
time to time. 

Summary of a Project in Crop Production. — The student 
should keep notes for filling an outline in his notebook which would 
include a number of points such as the following: 

1. Total area in project. 10. Not profits (total charge less total 

2. Total yield. credits;. 

.3. Pounds of seed used. 11. Net loss (total credits less total 

4. Tons of manure used. charge). 

5. Pounds of fertilizer used. 12. Number of man-hours. 

6. Charge for use of land. 13. Labor of self. 

7. Total value of the crop. 14. Labor of other help. , 

8. Total cost to grow and market 15. Total number of horse-hours. 

main crop. 16. Number of tractor-hours. 

9. Returns from by-products, as 17. Machinery charge. 

stover, straw, etc. 

Summary of a Livestock Project. — Keep notes for filling a re- 
port or summary of a livestock project, including such points as 
the following: 



RESULTS OF ENTERPRISE IN CROP PRODUCTION 275 



9. Appreciation in value of livestock. 

10. Pounds of grain (concentrates fed 

to livestock). 

11. Pounds of roughage fed to live- 

stock. 

12. Allowance for pasturage of live- 

stock. 

13. Total number of man-hours of 

labor. 

14. Labor of self. 

15. Labor of other help. 

16. Total number of horse-hours. 

17. Net gain or loss. 



1. Number of animals at the begin- 

ning of the project. 

2. Number near close of the project. 

3. Average number during the proj- 

ect. 

4. Total production in pounds of 

pork, of milk, of beef, dozens 
of eggs. 

5. Cost of producing milk, eggs, 

beef, pork, etc. 

6. Total cost of keeping hvestock. 

7. Depreciation on livestock. 

8. Value of products marketed or 

used (eggs, pork, beef , milk, etc.) . 

Uniformity in Prices Allowed for Feed and Labor. — In the forms 
printed by some states for making a summary of projects, sometimes 
the prices to be allowed per horn- for horse labor, for student labor, 
and for hired labor are fixed. This is for the sake of uniformity 
in reports handed to the state departments from all the schools. 

In like manner, the prices to be allowed by students for pasturage 
of various kinds and for different types of animals are sometimes 
designated by state authorities. In cases where prices are not thus 
fixed, the rates allowed in the reports should be uniform in each school. 
Some idea of the amount to be allowed may be obtained by getting 
the forms from other states which publish them freely. Write to 
your state supervisor or to states where prices have been designated. 

Prices for feed may be determined very closely by market 
values, which vary from time to time. Really the student should 
use actual cost values for all feed which is purchased in the market. 
It is for feeds which are grown upon the farm that standard prices 
or uniform prices should be fixed. 

Analyzing the Results of the Enterprise in Crop Production. — 
The student should keep notes of all details concerning his project 
in suitable form so that the results can be carefully analyzed and 
a report made which would include such points as the following: 

10 



1. Yield per acre. 

2. Amount of seed per acre. 

3. Tons of manure per acre. 

4. Pounds of fertilizer per acre. 

5. Charge for use of land per acre. 

6. Cost per acre of growing and 

marketing the main crop. 

7. Cost per acre of production of by- 

products (straw, stover, etc.). 

8. Cost per unit of main product (as 

ton, bushel, etc.). 

9. Cost per unit allowed for by- 

products (divide 8 and 9 on 
market value basis). 



Rent of land is what per cent of 
total cost of crop? 

11. Labor cost is what per cent of 

total cost? 

12. Fertilizer cost is what per cent of 

total cost? 

13. Cost of equipment per acre. 

14. Human-hours per acre. 

15. Horse-hours per acre. 

16. Profit or loss per acre. 

17. Profit per man-hour. 



276 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 



Analyzing the Results of a Livestock Enterprise. — Keep full 
notes so that the following details and others may be gleaned and 
reported in the final analysis: 



1. 



Pounds of milk per cow; pounds 

of meat per head; number of 

eggs per hen. 
Pounds of butter fat per cow (test 

X weight of milk). 
Average test of milk produced. 
Value of products: eggs per hen, 

milk per cow, meat per head. 
Cost of products: cwt. of milk, 

of meat, dozens of eggs. 



7. Pounds of concentrates per hen, 

hog, cow, etc. 

8. Cost of roughage (or litter) per 

hen, hog, cow, etc. 

9. Cost of pasture per hen, hog, 

cow, etc. 

10. Net profit or loss per head. 

11. Profit per hour of human labor. 

12. Hours of man labor per head or 
per hundred hens. 



6. Cost of keeping a cow,hog, hen,etc. 

Keeping Records in Project Work. — If reports such as are sug- 
gested mider the foregoing headings arc to be made at the close 




Fir;. 133. — This student rented his father's equipment and produced a large field of wheat 
with profit. Much of the work of a winter wheat project falls in the vacation season. 

(Avery Co.) 

of the project, it will be necessary for students to keep records of 
many things. In most cases daily records of items will be necessary. 

Labor records should show how much time was put upon the 
project by the student himself and by others. The kind of work 
performed should also be shown on this record sheet. The price 
allowed joor hour for the labor is to be stated. 

Horse labor used in the project should be shown by dates and 
the kind of work being done each day, as preparing fields for seed- 
ing, hauling manure, planting crop, harvesting or marketing. 
The price per horse-hour is to be stated. 

Tractor work, if any, should be charged up against the project. 
Give rate per hour, kind of work, and number of hours (Fig. 133). 



SPECIAL FORMS FOR OTHER PROJECTS 277 

Feed Record Forms. — In animal projects it is important that 
accurate records be kept of the feed of different kinds which is 
used and the prices charged for the feed. The feed may be grouped 
under three main heads; concentrates, roughage, and pasturage. 
Sometimes it is advisable to include special items for bedding, for 
slops or other wastes, for root crops, etc. Ruled forms may be 
made so that weights of feed may be entered on each day of the 
month and for each of the twelve months of the year. Prices per 
pound may be indicated at the bottom of the column for each 
month. A summary of the feeding may be made for each month. 
This will make easy the final summary at the close of the project. 

Milk and Butter Records. — In dairy projects (Figs. 140 and 141) , 
milk records should be kept either weekly or daily. The weights 
should be recorded for each milking, about one day a week, and but- 
ter fat tests should be recorded on the same dates for each test made. 
Multiply the weights if made one day a week by seven to get the 
total weight of milk for the week. Multiply the percentages of 
fat shown by the test by the weight of milk for a week to get the 
butter fat production for the week. Add the daily or weekly pro- 
duction of milk and fat to get the yields in these products for a month. 

The cost of feed for any individual cow each month may be 
compared with her production computed at market prices. The 
profit or loss from each cow for each month is thus determined. 
Suitable forms for this work may be obtained from the dairy 
divisions of state experiment stations and the United States 
Department of Agriculture. 

Records of Weight of Animals. — In feeding experiments with 
pigs, sheep, beef cattle (Figs. 134 and 135), etc., stated periods 
for weighing the animals to obtain results of feeding should be 
decided upon in advance. Suppose weighings are to be made once 
a month or once a week, suitable forms may be easily ruled on 
sheets fastened to a board which w\\\ hang on a wall or other con- 
venient place. Copies of the weight should be transcribed by the 
student to the project record book to prevent loss. 

Poultry Records. — In conducting poultry projects forms should 
be made or published forms may be obtained to record easily the 
number of eggs produced, raising of chicks, etc. 

Forms are pubHshed for keeping records of incubators 
and brooders. 

Special Forms for Other Projects. — It will be easy for a student 
or his instructor to devise suitable forms for use in keeping records 



278 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 



for any special projects that are undertaken. It is good practice 
for a student to plan his own forms for record keeping. Let the 
records be ruled to suit the project and placed where they will be 
convenient for use. 

Charge for Use of Machinery. — Make memoranda on some 
simple ruled form for keeping a record of the kinds and amounts 




Fig. 134. — The animal husbandry class of the high school fed these four steers as a group 
project. (O. E. Stophel, Minn.) 




I'lr,. l.'i.'). — Tlic school steers were slaughtered, the meat sold, costs and returns calculated, 
and profit shown. The agriculture teacher was an expert in animal feeding and in meats. 

(O. E. Stephel.) 

of use of farm machines (Fig. 136). The number of hours that 
each machine is used should be recorded. Note the condition of 
the machine at the time. State the price to be allowed for use of 
machines of each kind. 

Cost Accounting. — Many of the elements in cost accounting have 
been suggested in the foregoing paragraphs. If complete records 
are kept of the different elements which enter into the production 



COST ACCOUNTING 



279 




^^g^^«;. >. '- - 



Fig. 136. — Home pictures taken of the different stages in the progress of each student's 
project. These pictures can be mounted on record charts in the school-room, used in the 
student's final report, and published in local press from time to time. (.1. B. Roller, Va.) 

of any crop or farm product, the summary of the cost of produc- 
tion can easily be calculated at any time for any given period. 



280 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 



It is important that the forms which are used punctually to 
keep accounts of different items of expense be filled. If this is done 
regularly, the student will not feel that cost accounting is a diffi- 
cult task. Students should be taught to keep records carefully 
and yet they should not be made to feel that the drudgery is so 
great as to make them dislike the work and declare they will never 
keep such records when they are in business for themselves. The 
best result of cost accounting by school students is to teach them 
to form life habits of cost accounting. They should learn that the 
right methods are easy and worth while. The present lack of cost 



Fig. 137. 



Fio. las. 




Fig. 137. — The vocational instriirtor on his round of visits to the home projects should take 

notes from students' records and from the work for use in class work and to report to the 

local press. (S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 

Fig. 13S. — Vocational instructor's car at home of student who has just selected his white 
seed corn. The car belongs to the county and is lettered "Cape May County Vocational 
School of Agriculture." This instructor takes books and other equipment with him. 

(A. W. Hand.) 

accounting on American farms should be overcome by right teach- 
ing of simple methods. 

Records of Income. — In many projects in gardening, dairying, 
small fruits, orcharding, etc., special forms should be made for 
keeping records of sales of products. These should provide for the 
amount and kind of articles sold, prices per unit received, and 
places for totals per week or month. Records of incomes from proj- 
ects can thus be simplified and summaries can be easily made out 
any time desired for the student, parent or instructor. 

Calculating Labor Income. — To determine the "labor income" 
for a season or at the close of a project, the student should find 
the total income from all sales and from this deduct all the items 



ATTITUDE OF THE INSTRUCTOR 



281 



of expense except his own labor. To find the "net income," deduct 
from this a fair amount for his own labor. 

Visits to Projects. — In teaching vocational agriculture, the in- 
structor should visit the farms where students are pursuing proj- 
ects (Figs. 137, 138, and 153). These visits should be made with 
sufficient frequency to insure the right conduct of the project. 
No wrong steps should be taken by the students because of the 
neglect of the instructor to visit the project work at the proper 




Fig. 139. — Growing corn for profit has been the most popular home project of students. 

Thousands have chosen this project. More variety will help the school, the students, and 

the farmers. The Minnesota boy at the left is running a special seed corn project, and has 

de-tasseled some of the rows. (Right from T. G. Brown, Wis.) 

time. The frequency of visits will depend largely upon the season 
of the year. This is particularly true in the crop growing projects. 
In animal husbandry projects the visits may be more evenly 
distributed through the season. 

Attitude of the Instructor When Visiting Projects. — The spirit 
of helpfulness, encouragement, and stimulation should be upper- 
most in the mind of the agricultural instructor when he is visiting 
the project work of his students. He should maintain this attitude 
toward the student himself, toward the parents, and toward neigh- 
bors whom he may meet on his rounds. He should always feel 
that he is there for the good that he can do and for the help that 



282 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

he can give. He should impress corrections kindly. This may 
often be done by contrasting with other neighbors or other students 
that are doing better with similar projects. He should avoid 
participation in neighborhood controversies. He should avoid 
discussions of superstitious beliefs which are in the minds of neigh- 
bors or parents. In place of this, he can firmly insist upon scien- 
tific methods being followed without trying to controvert wrong 
behefs. Better results will thus be obtained. 

The agricultural instructor on his rounds may do much good 
in every community. Many questions will be brought to him if 
he is a suitable person for his work. He should not restrict his 




Fig. 140. — A dairy project with four pure-bred Jerseys keeps a high school boy very busy. 

(A. A. Sather, Mo.) 

work to particular projects of his own students. He should be 
willing to help along all the agricultural projects of the neighbor- 
hood, so far as his time and energy and store of knowledge will 
permit. In Chapter XVIII are given suggestions for conducting 
community work. 

Instructor's Relation to Notebook and Record Keeping. — 
When visiting a student's project the special records kept for that 
project should all be inspected by the instructor. If mistakes are 
being made, they should be clearly indicated and carefully noted 
for improvement in the future. If possible, suggestions should be 
off(M'ed to simplify the records and make them easier to keep. Ac- 
ciu'acy and punctuality in keeping records of cost and income should 
be emphasized whenever students are lax in such matters. 

The project notebooks of. students should be examined some- 
what regularly so that students will be induced to keep their books 
in condition for inspection. Postponement of notebook work 
should be discouraged. 



PROJECT SCORE CARDS 



283 



Written and Oral Instructions. — When each visit is made to 
inspect project work, oral instructions should be given the student 
after all points of the work have been gone over and discussed. 
Finally a brief written record of the main points should he left 
with the student, a copy of which is kept on a carbOn sheet by the 
instructor for future reference. This written record should in- 
clude (1) the mistakes in methods which the student has been 
making and which he is instructed to change; (2) the steps which 
he is directed to perform next; (3) suggestions regarding produc- 
tion, marketing, or other processes yet to be performed. 

This written record of instructions will be signed by the instruc- 
tor and will bear the date of the 
visit. This becomes the recoi'd 
of the visits made by the instruc- 
tor and will enter into the stu- 
dent's project report. 

Project Score Cards. — In each 
type of project or for each gen- 
eral subject in agriculture a 
project score card should be for- 
mulated by the instructor to suit 
the local conditions. Classify the 
projects being pursued by the 
students. Announce that all the 
students will be scored on the 
progress of their work. In all of 
these score cards the instructor 
may allow 25 per cent for points 
in production, 25 per cent for 
record keeping, 25 per cent for 
marketing and profits (labor income and net income), and 25 per cent 
for summaries or history or stories of the project work. The latter 
should include reasoning and application of fundamental principles. 
It is on the first twenty-five points that the score cards for different 
kinds of projects will vary. This part of the score card may be 
separated into many subdivisions. Include such points as mastery 
of new methods, use of related knowledge, interest in work, interest 
in science, cooperation, economical use of time, exercise of judg- 
ment, systematic performance of duties, punctuality, facility in 
performance, and skills developed. 

Encourage the spirit of competition among students. They 




Fig. 141.; — Students with Holsteins in their 
dairy projects, Vanceboro, N. C. They wear 
white suits and believe in producing clean 
milk. (H. L. Joslyn.) 



284 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 



should feel that the approbation of the teacher is worth while. 
The score cards will enable the instructor to compare more accu- 
rately the work of all members of his class. The final results of 
students, even if pursuing different kinds of projects, may be com- 
pared if the work is scored on the basis here given or any similar plan. 
In using the score card the work should be divided into two 
factors: (1) Those over which the student has little control, as 
weather conditions and unforeseen accidents; (2) those for which 
the student could be held directly responsible. Thus the efforts 

Fig. 143. 



Fig. 142. 




Fig. 142. — .\ puro-brcd Holstein oa!f worth $200 whpn born is only a part of a good dairy 

project. (T. G. Brown, Wis.) 
Fig. 143. — .\ junior projert for a club boy may be with only one p\ire-bred (lucrnsey oalf. 

(T. G. Rrown.) 

of individual students may be judged and j)roporl3' credited. The 
instructor will need to jog constantly his own memory with refer- 
ence to points to be considered when criticizing or commenting 
upon the projects and in scoring them. Otherwise he may over- 
look points that would escape his notice. 

How to Visit the Work of Students. — The instructor must have 
some means of conveyance. In some cases instructors use bicycles, in 
others motorcycles. Some instructors go on horseback, some use 
automobiles (Figs. 137, 138, and 153). The condition of roads in dif- 
ferent sections of the country and at different times of the year is an 
important factor in determining the means of transportation. The 
cost of traveling also enters largely into the problem. In a very few 



TAKING STUDENTS TO SEE THE WORK OF OTHERS 285 

cases, interurbans, trolleys, and railroads are found convenient enough 
for extensive use in this work. Walking from various centers of 
transportation is sometimes resorted to by teachers of agriculture. 

Fig. 144. 




Fig. 145. 



Fig. 146. 



Fig. 144. — When a student keeps pure-bred pigs, builds a hog oot, produces a pasture, and 

otherwise' manages a sow and litter, he has a good educational project. (Guy S. Ellis.) 
Fig. 145. — A Wisconsin pig-club boy with pure-bred pigs that hold his attention. (T. G. 

Brown.) 

Fig. 146 — Teach students that the greatest profit in pig projects is obtained when pigs 

are raised on clover or other good pasture. (W. C. Christensen, Wis.) 

Taking Students to See the Work of Others. — Much benefit 
may be gained by students in the same kind of work visiting the 



286 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 



enterprises of others. They learn by example what good points 
to follow and what mistakes to avoid. Let every student visit 
every successful project in the vicinity. Farm operations and 
projects of graduates and former students may be included. Let 




Fig. 147. — Plant propagation has hoen chosen by thi.s boy as a Hfe work as a result of a 
project which began with a propagating frame 3 by 6 feet in size, Ontario, Calif. (Chas. 

J. Booth.) 

them carry score cards or outlines which will call their attention 
to each particular point in the work. 

Some of the students may have conveyances to assist in taking 
the students around. If the roads allow the use of automobiles, 
the problem of visiting projects is an easy one. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PROJECTS WITH FIELD CROPS 287 



Suggestions for Projects with Field Crops. — Grow for profit 
any farm crop of the region. Annual crops for such projects may- 
be corn (Fig. 139), wheat, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats. 




Fig. 148. — Projects in the renovation of old apple orchards may be very profitable to students 
and the orchard owners. (A. W. Hand, N. J.) 

barley, sorghum, and sugar-beets. Perennial crops may be grown 
either their first year or may be taken over by the student after 
they are established. Such crops may include alfalfa, clovers, 
timothy, orchard grass, etc. 



288 



HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

Fig. 149. 




Figs 149-1.51. — Projoct work in hpo-kooping, Floronoo High School, Arizona. Fig. 149.— 

Building hives. Fig. l.'iO.— Landing of lieavy laden bees. Fig. 151.— Student with bee veil 

doing his work. lie cleared S.'JOOO in one season on his project. (V. B. Anderson ) 



PROJECTS IN SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



289 



Grow for profit combinations of crops, as the following companion 
crops: Oats and rape, cowpeas and millet, oats and vetch, cowpeas 
and sorghum, grass mixtures, corn and cowpeas, corn and peanuts, 
corn and velvet beans, corn and soybeans. The following groups 
of succession crops may be used: 

Wheat followed \jy clover, potatoes followed by winter wheat, 
early potatoes followed by buckwheat, oats followed by buck- 
wheat, crimson clover followed by potatoes, crimson clover fol- 
lowed by corn. 

Any of the projects with crops may be accompanied by special 



Fig. 152. 



Fig. 153. 




Fig. 152. — Encourage bee-keeping in home project work. This is an ideal site for the 

apiary. (C. J. Booth.) 
Fig. 153. — Automobile expense is one of the troubles of the teacher of vocational agriculture 
while visiting home project work where the roads are poor and bridges are lacking. (H. A. 

Savage, Al.a.) 

treatments for demonstrations of particular features, as liming, 
fertilizing, or comparing varieties (Fig. 139). 

Projects in Soil Improvement. — ^Rundown farms, abandoned 
fields, or gullied fields may serve as subjects for projects in soil 
improvement. In such cases it is fair to assume that the project 
maj^ be a profitable one. But in order to closely approximate the 
profit from the improvement it is advisable to have a committee 
appointed at the beginning of the work to assess the value of the 
land. Let the same committee make a subsequent assessment 
after the project has been completed. 

Steps in such projects will have to be planned to suit individual 
cases. They may consist of any of the following operations: Clear- 
ing of brush, removing of stumps, piling up or hauling off stones, 
stopping gulleys, terracing, growing cover crops, using green man- 
19 



290 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

ure, spreading manure and fertilizers, liming, good tillage, and 
establishing improvement crops, as legumes. 

Projects with Dairy Cattle. — The following suggestions indicate 
the scope of a number of profitable projects in dairying: 

1. Care for, feed, and manage four or more dairy cows for twelve months 
(Figs. 140 and 141). 

2. Improve a dairy herd by culling out the poor cows after keeping records, 
tests, and figuring the feed bills for individual cows of the herd for a period of 
twelve or more months. 

3. A dairy feeding project may consist of working out good rations for 
dairy cows and using them for twelve months or more with the members of a 
large herd. The amount of feed weighed to each cow daily should be compared 
with the records of milk produced. Compute the saving due to adapting the 
amount and kind of feed to the individual animal. 

4. In a very large herd, let the student do the buying of feeds and keeping 
the records for the entire herd. 

5. Operate the separator, make butter, and take charge of marketing all 
products for a period of twelve months. The price of the raw product may be 
fi.xed and the profit may come from the manufacturing and marketing. 

6. Let one or more students of the class run a small cow-testing association 
for a year. The profit to the student would come from the money paid by the 
members of the association for this work. 

7. Feed and take care of the calves of a dairy herd for one year (Figs. 142 
and 14.3). 

8. A minor project may consist of preparing dairy cows and calves for 
exhibit, showing them at a fair for premiums. 

Projects with Hogs. — A number of profitable projects in con- 
nection with the swine industrj^ are suggested here: 

1. Fatten meat hogs for home use, dress and cure the meat. 

2. Raise and market one or more litters of pigs and sell them for market 
or for breeding (Figs. 144 and 145). 

3. Raise three or more pure-bred sows and sell their first litters after regis- 
tering them (Fig. 146). 

4. Keep all hogs on a swine farm free from internal and external parasites 
for six months. Make a dipping vat and sanitary wallow. This project may 
be made to include all diseases, as treating for hog cholera. 

5. Make all troughs, feeders, platfonns, pens, loading shoots, and other 
structures needed on the hog farm (compensation on mechanic's basis). 

6. Grow a series of hog pastures to maintain good pastiu-age for a 
period of six months and graze a lot of hogs on these. This project may 
be extended over a period of twelve months and include winter pastures 
where possible. 

7. Finish a bunch of ten or more hogs for the last ninety days and 
sell them. 

8. A good project may consist of kilhng, curing, and marketing meat from 
a farm where swine is one of the chief products. 

9. Prepare a bunch of pure-bred sv.ine for exhibition at a large fair and 
exhibit them for premimns. 

10. Kill and manufacture pork from a fann for one year, making the three 
products, lard, scrapple, and sausage; put up in fancy packages for city 
market. Use a trade name in this project. 



PROJECTS WITH HORSES 291 

Projects with Beef Cattle. — Profitable projects in study and 
management of beef cattle may be conducted by students pursuing 
animal husbandry. 

1. Buy a bunch of steers, e.g., one carload, age about eighteen months 
each, feed these over winter and fatten them for tfie spring market. Or use 
a small number and finally butcher them and sell the meat (Fig. 134). 

2. Raise a bunch of beef calves, beginning at weaning age, until they are 
ready for baby beef at fourteen to eighteen months of age. 

3. Select and buy three or more shorthorn cows with calves at side. 
Register the calves, prepare the bunch for sale, and sell them at the end of 
a year. 

4. Prepare a bunch of pure-bred cattle, Angus, Hereford, or Galloway, 
for exhibition at an important fair and show them for premiums. Animals 
of several different ages should be included in this project. 

Projects in Sheep Raising. — In regions where sheep production 
is for meat, students may plan valuable projects in this line of 
animal husbandry. 

1. Care for and manage fifty sheep for one year. 

2. A minor project may consist of marketing wool, meat, and selling some 
breeding animals for a period of twelve months from the home flock. 

3. Keep records and pedigrees and attend to registei'ing the animals in a 
large flock of pure-bred sheep. This project may also include the selling of 
animals for breeding purposes. 

4. Prepare a large bunch of sheep of different ages for exhibition at a fair 
and show them for premiums. 

5. The erection of a modern sheep shed with good floor drainage, the 
making of feeding troughs and hay racks may be included as a part of one or 
another of sheep projects. 

6. Keep sheep of a large sheep farm free from disease for a year. This 
may include making and using a dipping vat, the planning and growing of a 
series of pastures to be used in rotation to prevent stomach worms. 

7. Buy lambs in the fall, fatten them during the winter, then shear and 
market the wool, pasture aJid feed the flock for sale in the fall. 

8. Plan a project in the production of hot-house lambs. This may follow 
the preceding project by breeding some of the ewes mentioned in No. 7. 

9. A student may undertake to serve the community as a sheep expert 
in selecting breeders, protecting flocks from disease, dipping, buying concen- 
trates, planning pastures, shearing, and serving as market agent for products. 

Projects with Horses. — The natural interest which students 
often have growing colts, managing horses and mules, makes them 
often wish to pursue a project in one of these lines. 

1. On a large fann employing many work animals a student may be 
employed as an expert in feeding, watering, bedding, and pasturing all horses 
or other working animals on the place. This may be for a period of a year. 
The profit in the project may come from the pay he receives. 

2. The foregoing project may have added to it the care of the harness, 
including repair, upkeep, fitting to animals, etc. 

3. Raise and break one or more pairs of colts for two years. These ought 
to be of diff'erent ages. 



292 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

4. Care for and manage three or more pure-bred brood mar(!s, [)referably 
of the draft type. Include the breeding of the anunals, raising of colts, trim- 
ming of hoofs, care of both dams and foals. 

5. A student may undertake to serve as expert for his community in car- 
ing for the work horses and mules, preventing diseases, treatment of common 
ailments, cUpping, etc. 

6. Prepare a number of pure-bred animals for exhibition at a state fair 
or other important fair. These should, if possible, include such animals as 
mentioned in No. 4 above. Exhibit the animals for premiums. This should 
include the registering of the foals before fair time. 

Poultry Projects. — Less capital is required in starting projcK'ts 
in poultry than in most other lines of animal industry. Farms 
are often found more or less equipped at the beginning with some 
features of a poultry plant. These projects may also be pursued 
in villages or in suburbs of cities. The projects may be conducted 
by both young men and j^oinig A^'omen. There are many types 
of poultry projects, a few of which are suggested here. 

1. Take charge of and operate the farm poultry ])lant for one year. 

2. Select and purchase laying stock for a good flock. Use the trap-nesting 
system and keep records of results for one year. 

3. Begin with incubators, hatch and grow for one year a flock of pure-bred 
chicks. This should include proper management of young stock, dispo- 
sal of males for broilers, selection of females for laying, installing them 
in laying quarters for the winter, and the winter production of eggs from 
these pullets. 

4. On a large specialized poultry plant und(n'take to operate a number of 
incubators and brooders and keep them in repair; repair and maintain the 
houses, feeders, trap nests, doors, gates, and fences for one year. (Compensa- 
tion for repair work at mechanic's rates.) 

5. A project in sanitation may be pursued on a very large poultry plant 
by keeping the flocks of poultry free from all vermin and disease for one year. 
Disinfecting houses, soil, rotating yards; trapping or shooting enemies, etc., 
may be included. 

6. For a large plant work out scratching rations, dry-mash rations, pur- 
chase the ingredients and prepare these rations for one year. Collect and 
market the eggs, and market other products and keep the records during 
this year. 

7. Hatch, grow, and fatten for market a flock of broilers. This may 
include fifty or more. It should include dressing, conditioning, and marketing, 
with records and with reports. 

8. Hatch, grow, and fatten for market not less than fifty turkeys. This 
may include dressing and marketing. 

9. Plan a similar project with geese or with ducks. 

10. Hatch with incubators and sell baby chicks through one season. 

11. A similar project maj' be planned in custom hatching for other people 
during a season. 

12. Plan a project with pun>-bred ]X)vdtry, beginning with the laying flock. 
This may include the advertising and sak' of eggs for hatching of day-old 
chicks, of cockerels, the selection of pullets for the next year's flock, and dis- 
posal of culls. 

13. Prepare pens, trios, pairs and single birds of one or more pure breeds 
for exhibition at shows. Exhibit them for premiums. 



PROJECTS WITH SMALL FRUITS 293 

Projects in Vegetable Gardening. — It is easy to suggest many 
projects in the growing of vegetable crops for profit. It is almost 
needless to mention them here. A few suggestions, however, will 
bring to mind many others with other garden crops. 

1. Raise one to five acres of Irish potatoes; include the combating of 
enemies, harvesting and marketing the crop. This may, if desired, inchide the 
feature of storing a part or all of the crop for sale in the winter. 

2. A very profitable project may be to grow an acre of onions from seed 
and market the product. A similar project would be to grow a half acre of 
onion sets from seed. Near a large city where green bunch onions are readily 
sold these may be grown from sets and marketed in early spring. 

3. Raise for sale hotbed plants, including cabbage, cauliflower, head lettuce, 
peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, kohl-rabi, etc. The marketing 
of these at retail or at wholesale stores should prove to be a profitable project 
(Fig. 147). 

4. In regions where there are canneries, projects in the growing of products 
used by the cannery should be undertaken. These may include growing of 
specified areas of peas, snap beans, Uma beans, cabbage, tomatoes, sweet 
corn, cucumbers, etc. 

5. The growing of special crops of one or two kinds for nearby markets 
may include any of the usual market garden crops, as watermelons, cantaloupes, 
rhubarb, asparagus, sweet corn. 

6. Grow two acres of pop-corn»and sell the same in ripe condition during 
the winter. 

7. Grow a good home garden of all the best kinds of vegetables for this 
purpose. The records of amounts used at home as well as those sold may be 
kept and charged at market prices. 

8. Plan projects in succession cropping of garden vegetables. Let short- 
season crops of the early vegetables be followed by hot weather crops. Ex- 
amples of the first group are radish, lettuce, early peas, early carrots, English 
peas. Examples of the hot weather crops that may follow the others are sweet 
corn, pop-corn, beans, okra, tomatoes, peppers, melons. If desired, late crops 
that will grow after frosts may be used in the fall garden, particularly in 
central and southern states. The third group might include turnips, collards, 
radish, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower. 

Projects with Small Fruits. — The conducting of projects in 
small fruits may best he made to cover more than one year. If 
th(> crojjs be taken at a more advanced stage, a single year may be 
devoted to the project and this may be the year in which the sale 
of a crop is included. Several suggestions for the scope of small 
fruit projects are here given: 

1 . Begin with a newly set patch of raspberries and grow them for two years, 
including the marketing of the crop the second year. 

2. Take a raspberry patch that is aheady of bearing age and manage the 
business entirely for one year, including the care, winter pruning, combating 
enemies, harvesting, marketing, and accounting. 

3. Projects similar to either of the above may be planned with an acre 
or half acre of blackberries or strawberries. 

4. Take a vineyard of bearing age and conduct the business for one year. 
Let the work include the growing of a cover crop, winter pruning, combating 



294 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

enemies, repairing trellises, tying up growing canes, harvesting the crop, 
marketing, and reporting accounts. 

5. One of the best plans for projects with small fruits is to have students 
conduct at least two projects with the same kind of crop. Let one of these 
begin with the bearing crop; let the other begin with the starting of a new 
plantation ; thus all phases of the work may be included in one year of practice. 

Projects in Orcharding. — The time to begin with a home proj- 
ect in orcharding is most natm'ally at tlie starting of the orchard. 
As this would require so much time to secure a profit to the student, 
it is difficult to interest the student in projects beginning at that 
time. Several suggested plans are here presented : 

1. Start with two small projects in orcharding. Let one begin with plant- 
ing a young orchard and let it continue for one or more years. The other 
project paralleling this should begin with a bearing orchard. Both will include 
all details of orcharding, but the second will be the one from which a profit 
should be expected. An orchard project of this type may be in peach growing, 
apple growing, pear growing, plum growing, or may be a combination of any 
of these. 

2. Begin with an old apple orchard on the home place. Renovate it, reju- 
venate the trees, and market the fruit. This project may be conducted for 
one year only, provided the trees are not too badly neglected to pnoduce a crop 
the first year. Otherwise the project may*be conducted for two or more years 
so that real results may be attained (Fig. 148). 

3. A minor project may be conducted in a large peach orchard of harvest- 
ing, sorting, packing, and marketing the peach crop for one season. 

4. A similar project for one season may be planned for an apple orchard, 
including the same features. It may also include a project in storing for 
winter sale. 

5. On places where there is no bearing orchard a profitable project may 
be planned in the starting of a young orchard of one or more kinds of fruit. 
The value of the orchard should be assessed by a committee at the end of the 
project. This project should really be conducted for two years if possible. 

Bee-Keeping Projects. — Spring is a good season for active 
operations with colonics of bees. If a student selects either a large 
or a small project in bee-keeping, he may find much study and 
work for the winter season. He will find his time more fully occu- 
pied in the honey-making season (Figs. 149, 150, 151, and 152). 

Nursery Projects. — Very profitable undertakings may be made 
in the growing of nursery stock. Remember to observe state 
inspection rules. Several projects are suggested here: 

1. In the winter make several thousand root grafts from scions and roots 
which have V)een stored for the purpose. Grow these in nursery rows in the 
garden the following season and sell the yovmg trees in the fall. 

2. Grow seedhng stocks of peaches, plums, cherries, or apples. Bud these 
in the open in September. Grow the improved varieties for one season and 
sell the young trees in the fall of that year. 

3. Make root cuttings of blackberries and grow the plants for one season 
and s(;ll them in the fall or spring. 



PROJECTS IN FARM MANAGEMENT 295 

4. Tip layer black raspberry bushes after the harvest season and grow 
tha young plants the balance of that season and sell the small plants in the 
fall or spring. 

5. Propagate strawberry plants by runners, select the best plants, dig, 
properly label, and sell to neighbors. 

6. Make root divisions of red raspberries and sell the plants. 

7. Make cuttings of currants, gooseberries, and of many ornamental 
shrubs, grow these in garden rows for one or two years and sell the plants. 

Projects in Landscape Gardening. — How to make projects of 
this kind profitable is suggested in some of the following: 

1. If home premises are rather barren of shrubbery, vines, flowers, and 
lawns, have an assessment committee inspect the place before the beginning 
of the project, and at the end of it this committee should be able to determine 
the increased value of the premises as result of the landscape project. Let the 
first project consist of replanning the roads and walks, starting the vines, and 
seeding lawns. 

2. A similar project may include much of the above and in addition plant 
a number of shrubs in masses about the main residence, at the angles of walks 
or roads, or in clumps to hide unsightly buildings. 

3. Another feature of either of the above projects may be the painting 
of the residence, whitewashing of barns or other buildings. 

4. Still another feature of any of these landscape projects may be the repair- 
ing or building of fences, the planting of trees, or the erection of trelUses for vines. 

Projects in Farm Management. — The profitable side of a num- 
ber of projects in farm management may be seen in some of the 
following suggestions: 

1. Keep books and records of costs and income from any one crop on your 
father's farm for one year. This may be done on a percentage basis or may 
be for a stipulated amount per hour of time used. 

2. Let this bookkeeping include any record of cost accounting for the 
farm and sale of products. Crops fed or used on the fann should also be re- 
corded. A complete summary at the end of the year should be made. 

3. On a livestock farm keep records on special forms as well as book 
accounts of cost, sales, and profits for one year. The records of breeding of 
animals, birth of animals, production of individual cows, etc., may be included 
in this project. A record of the cost of the family living may be made for one 
year. Show what part of this comes from the farm itself and what part 
is purchased. 

4. A variation from the preceding project may consist of comparing the 
cost of hving with and without a home garden. 

5. If the father's main project is the selling of pure-bred livestock, keep 
the cost accoimts and sales for one year. 

6. Plan and direct a ptofitable rotation of crops for three or four years, 
using as many fields as there are years in the rotation. Keep a full record of 
each of these crops as to cost and profit and compare them. This project may 
be reasonably well completed in one year, but may continue for the fuU rota- 
tion. Compare tlie rotation system with the old one-crop system. 

7. Replan a farm for greatest advantage for convenience of fields, shape 
of fields for plowing, advantage of stock water, etc. Change fences and roads 
where needed. The improvement in this project may be assessed by a commit- 
tee visiting the place before and after. 



296 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

8. Rent a farm to a tenant. Supervise the operations on the fann and keep 
books concerning these operations for a year. 

9. In the community, find several farms which are rented to tenants on 
different plans of share renting or cash renting, as, with or without residences, 
with and without seed and fertilizer furnished, with and without riuining 
cattle on stalks and stubble-fields, after crops are harvested. Fomiulate plans 
for keeping records by which the profit to owners and to tenants can be deter- 
mined in each of these plans. Compare these plans for one or for several years. 

10. On a large farm or plantation, hire the labor for the place, keep time 
records, and pay the hands by the week or by the month. Plan and direct the 
work which these men are to perform. The profit from this project may come 
from the percentage allowed on the labor of the men, just as contractors are 
sometimes paid in other walks of life. 

11. Maintain a Uvestock enterprise; on a farm for a year, buying the neces- 
sary feeds or other supphes, selling products, keeping records, keeping up pedi- 
grees and registration papers. 

12. On a new farm, plan the proper lo(!ation of the residence, yard, barn, 
well, fields, fences, roads, walks, etc. ^\'ork on the location of these and manage 
their construction for one year or more. In this project a time allowance may 
be made for the work done. The same percentage basis for supervision of 
construction may be fixed. 

13. Select two farms with premises near together, as across the road from 
each other. Draw plans of these two pixnnises showing location of all the 
important features of each. Keep records of the trijjs on both for a year in 
doing chores. Calculate the distance traveled by members of the family in 
drawing and carrying water, feeding stock, caring for machinery and tools. 
Then replan these places for better results and less labor in perfonning the 
chores. Calculate the saving for one year and let this be the amount of profit 
which the student has earned during this project. This may be paid by 
the owners. 

14. A jiroject similar to the above may be planned relating to the; labor 
of plowing and cultivating fields of different shapes. It may also include the 
study of distances traveled going to and from fields of the farm for one year. 
In replaiming, change the location and shapes of fields to obtain best results. 

15. Keep records of cost accounting on two farms; one using a tractor for 
field work, the other using horses. Compare the results in the two cases. The 
economy shown should be the profit to the student in this project. 

16. Plan the distribution of labor on a large fann for an entire year. Let 
the profit be calculated as in No. 10 above. 

17. On two nearby farms, one having pure-bred stock, the other grades, 
compare the results for a year by accounting the cost and income. The profit 
in this project may be derived from the contrast shown. 

18. Projects in different methods of marketing farm products may include 
contrasts of different ways, as with and without storage; wholesale and retail; 
with and without commission agents; with and without sorting or special pack- 
ing. Selling products may also be compari^d with feeding them on the farm. 

19. Foi-mulate systems of advertising of special farm products; com- 
pare the different systems, such as newspaper advertising, bulletin boards, 
and circulars. 

20. In the community, compare two or more farms for the purpo.se of 
contrasting diversified farming and specialized farming. Calculate profits of 
a year's undertaking on each type of farm. 

21. A student in partnership with his father may take a project in manag- 
ing the entire fann. This project may be restri^cted to only a part of the farm's 
enterprises: the hvestock side or the crop production side. The management, 
however, is to be the important feature. 



RELATING PROJECTS TO SCHOOL STUDIES 297 

Projects in Farm Mechanics and Engineering. — So much of the 
work in farm mechanics is supplementary to other project work 
that it is somewhat difficult to plan profitable projects strictly in 
this field. In the following paragraphs a few kinds of mechanical 
projects are suggested: 

L Repair and lake care of the machinery of the entire farm for one year. 
Let the cost of all repairs and work be charged to the farm at prevalent rates 
at machine shops. 

2. Repair, maintain, and personally operate a farm tractor for one 
year. Do all the tractor work on the home place and, if possible, do custom 
work for neighbors. Let charges be made the same for the home place as 
for neighbors. 

3. Erect a dairy barn and install the fixtures, hiring such help as may 
be necessary. Charge the farm for this work at prevalent rates for 
mechanical work. 

4. Install a water-pressure system for the farm and its buildings. Operate 
and manage this for a period of one year. Let the work be charged at pipe- 
fitter's rates. 

5. Install a fighting system for the farm buildings, including electric wiring, 
and charge the farm at the rate of electrician's rates. 

6. Erect a permanent poultry house, with concrete floors, and make and 
install all appfiances for a complete plant. 

7. Erect a permanent swine house with concrete feeding floors. Make 
and install all appliances. This may include permanent yards and making 
of hurdle fences. 

8. Make a complete system of concrete walks about the premises. This 
may include making articles of concrete needed on the farm. 

9. On a large farm where there are many work animals a student may 
undertake to keep horses shod and in every way take care of their feet for a 
year, charging at blacksmith's rates. 

10. A student may be the farm power expert for a year, repairing and main- 
taining tractors, automobiles, and stationary gas engines at mechanic's rates. 

11. Improve the farm mechanically and keep records of the work, charging 
at proper rates for each line of work. This may include repairing of farm biuld- 
ings, roofs, gutters; rebiulding or repairing fences; improving or perhaps 
relocating and building roads and walks; painting and whitewashing. 

12. Let a capable student take full charge of the construction of a farm 
residence. 

13. Manage the buying, improving, and seUing of a farm for profit. This 
may be called a project in management as well as mechanics. 

14. Install bathroom fixtures and make charge at plumber's rates. 

15. Install a septic tank and connect bathroom and kitchen with same. 
Make charge at excavator's rates. 

16. Survey and take levels, then install a land-drainage system by means 
of tiles for one or more fields. Charge at surveyor's and laborer's rates. 

17. Make surveys and do leveUng, and then construct terraces for one or 
more fields on the home farm or neighboring places. Make suitable charges 
for it. 

18. Construct storehouse for fruit, and storage cellar for potato and 
root crops. 

Relating Projects to School Studies. — The modern methods of 
teaching agriculture by project methods require that the work in 



298 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

schools be correlated closely with the projects of the farm. In 
other words, the projects should parallel the work of the year in 
school. Much of the school time of the student is spent in the 
study of his home projects and the home projects of his classmates. 

In this system a close parallelism is maintained between the 
work and the studies of the student. Because of this it is often 
desirable that the projects cover a period of about twelve months. 
At least the first twelve months of the work on any project should, 
if possible, parallel the studies of that year. If, however, conditions 
requii-e it, the project work may continue for a much longer period 
of time. 

As the subjects of the curriculum require the student to take 
up new topics, new projects should be undertaken and pursued 
in addition to those already in progress. It is thus evident that 
the student may be pursuing a number of projects at the same time. 

It is by means of pursuing several projects that the student 
becomes a vocational agricultiu-ist and is able to operate and man- 
age the different enterprises of a farm. 

School Management when Students are Pursuing Home Proj- 
ects. — In many schools where vocational agriculture is taught antl 
where students are expected to pursue home project work the 
principal of the school is not willing to make adjustments of the 
schedule from time to time to allow agricultural students time for 
pursuing their project work at home during rush seasons of the 
year — at planting time or at harvesting time. This difficulty is 
more serious with projects in crop production than with projects 
in animal husbandry. 

Prospective pupils of agriculture in such schools will find it of 
great importance to win the cooperation of the principal of the 
school. In many other schools the teacher of agriculture is made 
the principal for the sake of making such adjustments of the daily 
program as are necessary from time to time to meet the exigencies 
of the work. In schools where the above mentioned difficulty 
exists some of the following suggestions may aid the instructor of 
agriculture to meet or avoid the conditions : 

1. If possible, have students choose projects which require httle absence 
from scihool — those which do not require the important steps to be taken 
during school hours. P'or example, Irish ])otatoes may be harvested slowly 
while sweet potatoes nuist be attcnd(Ml pn)mi)tly when a killing frost comes. 
Market garden projects require special attenlion promptly at certain times, and 
the student nuist be absent to attend to them. 

2. The teacher of agriculture must solve part of the trouble by j^lanning 



QUESTIONS 299 

to have all of his class absent at the same time. This would mean that they 
should have projects alike or similar in requirements. 

3. When the agricultural class is out of school have other students do 
supplementary work, as side reading, preparing essays, reports, looking up 
special references, making charts, drawing, preparing contest work, writing for 
newspapers, literary society work, projects of their own, as in home economics. 

4. While agricultural students are absent they may make up class work 
or balance the work of other members of the class by preparing reports 
and essays on their home projects. These may be presented for credit in 
English classes. 

5. Some teachers of agriculture plan to have the periods of absence brief 
and frequent rather than have prolonged periods. This plan also usually 
suits weather conditions better. 

6. Try, if possible, to have the absent time of students fall on the hours or 
half days when the agricultural work is scheduled. Other class work is then 
uninterrupted. If roads are good, the students may return in time for their 
other classes. 

EXERCISES 

1. Collect a set of blanks for use in home project work. Secure these from 
your own state and several others. Study these blanks and make comparisons. 

2. Write out fully the plans of a project with field crops. 

3. The same for a project in animal husbandry. 

4. The same for a project in gardening. 

5. The same for a project in small fruits or orcharding. 

6. The same for a project in fami management. 

7. Visit projects of students of agriculture until you have seen the project 
work in all the above mentioned lines. 

8. Make a list of things which a student should record in his notebook, 
while pursuing a project, in addition to the points covered by the state blanks. 

9. Make a project score card for use of instructors in judging the project 
work of students. 

10. Subdivide tliis score card to suit some particular kind of project 
with a field crop. 

11. Conduct an exercise in taking students to see the project work of 
other students. 

12. Compare each of the lists of projects suggested in this chapter and, 
in each list, select two which you think are better suited to your state or school 
tlian the others. 

13. Formulate several questions for debate on "sizes of projects" in 
different lines of agriculture. Discuss these. 

14. Make a list of the graduates and fornier students who are farming in 
the commimity where you are to teach or in some other. 

15. Study the effects of the agricultural training which they received while 
in school or college. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Define what is meant by an agricultural project, and distinguish between 

that and an exercise, a practicum, or experiment. 

2. Explain what is meant by major and minor projects. 

3. What is meant by the scope of a project? 

4. Who should agree to the project and its scope? 

5. When should the plans of a project be made by students? 

6. What is meant by a list of project operations? 

7. Why should students make a study of the principles involved in each 

operation? 



300 HOW TO CONDUCT HOME PROJECTS 

8. What advantage is there in his making definite citations to the topic 

studied or to be studied? 

9. If there are no published outhnes of a project to be pursued by a student, 

who should make the outline? 

10. Why should a student keep a notebook while studying the topic? 

11. How would you induce students to be systematic and careful in recording 

their project operations? 

12. What observations should he be taught to record while pvn-suing his 

project? Illustrate. 

13. Give a summary of a report on a project in crop production. 

14. Mention the points in a summary of a livestock project. 

15. Why should you induce all of your students to be uniform in the price 

allowed for feed and labor? 

16. Mention the points to be covered in an analysis of the results of projects 

in crop production. 

17. Mention the points to be covered in an analysis of the results of a project 

with livestock. 

18. What points should be included in a set of record forms? 

19. What are the essentials of a milk and butter record fonn? 

20. Under what conditions is it important to keep records of the weight of 

animals? 

21. What poultry record blanks are necessary? 

22. Why should the student record the use of farm implements in his project 

work? 

23. State the purposes of the visits to projects by instructors. 

24. What should be the attitude of the instructor when visiting projects? 

25. State the instructor's relation to notebook and record keeping. 

26. Why should he give both written and oral instruction in visiting projects? 

27. What is the value of a project score card? 

28. What two kinds of factors are to be judged when using such a score card? 

29. State how you will probably travel in visiting the project work in the 

vicinity of your school. 

30. What can you say on the importance of good roads in conducting project 

work? 

31. Why should the students be taken to see the work of others? 

32. Suggest proj(>cts with field crops. 

33. Mention eight or more projects with dairy cattle. 

34. The same with soil imjirovement. 

35. Give a good list of projects with hogs. 

36. Mention several projects with beef cattle. 

37. Give nine or more projects in sheep raising. 

38. Mention six or more projects with horses and mules. 

39. Give a good list of poultry projects. 

40. Give a list of vegetable garden projects. 

41. Mention five kinds of projects with small fruits. 

42. How can home projects in orcharding be confined to one or two years? 

43. Would you advise the use of nursery projects? Mention several. 

44. Why would you encourage the pursuit of projects in landscape gardening? 

Suggest several." 

45. Enumerate several projects in farm management. 

46. The same in farm mechanics and engineering. 

47. Why should the project work be closely related to the school studies? 

48. Give your views regarding school management when students may be 

away pursuing home projects. 



CHAPTER XIV 

HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 

Land Laboratory a Need. — Objective teaching is essential in an 
applied science such as agriculture. The laboratory method is a 
necessary adjunct of the teaching of agriculture whether conducted 
in the rural school, the grades of the town school, the high school, 
or the college. Much laboratory work can be done in the rooms of 
the school building, either those devoted to agriculture or to the 
general sciences. But agricultural principles and processes that 
deal with the outdoor life on the farm need for their proper com- 
prehension and practice an outdoor working place for the pupils. 
This may be either the home farm of the pupil or the land labora- 
tory of the school. 

Such a land laboratory is just as important for the pupils 
in agriculture as is an indoor laboratory for those who study 
chemistry or physics. It has an important part to perform in the 
teaching of agriculture which must be performed if the teaching 
is to be fully successful and which cannot be performed by any 
other means. Valuable as are the textbook, the library, the indoor 
laboratory, and the home farm, there are certain essentials which 
cannot be supplied by any or all of them. The land laboratory 
is not in conflict with any of them, but is supplemental to each. 
It is not a substitute for any of them, nor can any of them nor all 
of them combined be a substitute for it. 

Characteristics of the Land Laboratory. — The land laboratory 
should be from one quarter acre to one acre, in addition to the 
ornamental campus and playgrounds, where facilities for its proper 
care and use are limited. This may be expanded to two or three 
acres or more where certain larger uses (mentioned later) are to 
be made of it and where labor and 'funds for the large area 
are available. 

It should be near the school building, the nearer the better, 
since it is a school laboratory and not a "model farm," an "experi- 
ment farm," a "demonstration farm," or any other kind of a 
"farm." The agriculture class should be able to reach it, perform 
their work, and return to the school in the regular allotment of 
time provided in the school program and not encroach upon the 

301 



302 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



time of the preceding or the following recitations. The possibility 
of accomplishing this easily is necessary if the land laboratory is 
to attain its fullest usefulness as a factor in the successful teaching 
of agriculture. 

The contour and the soil should be superior and should be suffi- 
ciently uniform to permit the lay-out to be determined solely by 
the needs of the school. Since it is not to be a "farm" there is no 
necessity for it to be "typical" of the local farms. A degree of 



1 - fi ty. , g.g» 0>9^f»^9m'^v^ 
**' 1$. ^ 4. A 6 A A A i^ 4, /.A A A 




MAIN ROAD 



MAIN ROAD 



Fig. 154. — Plans for improved rural school grounds of about two acres or less, showing 
areas for gardens and play. (Arkansas Department of Public Instruction and U. S. Bureau 

of Education.) 

similarity would be advantageous if there were special need for 
illustrating local adaptability of crops. 

The land laboratory should be upon land which could be con- 
trolled by the school authorities for a term of years in order that 
plans once established shall not be disturbed. This is best accom- 
plished by the school owning the land, but if this is not practical 
it should be held under a long time lease. 

Plans. — After a careful study of the curriculum in agriculture 
the land laboratory should be carefully planned to meet its needs 
for 3^ears ahead so far as they can be foreseen. Blue prints should 
be made of these tentative plans and filed with the principal or 
superintendent and the officers of the board. A copy should be 
framed and hung in the school. These plans should be general and 
should set aside space for the perennial crops, preferably along the 



USES, GENERAL 



303 



borders; for poultry, if it is to be kept; and a large space reserved 
for annual use. Plans for the use of the annual portion should be 
made each year, blue printed and filed as suggested above. The 
different portions of the grounds should be suitably separated by 
walks and marked by neatly painted stake signs. The different 
plants and crops should be neatly labeled (Fig. 154). Explanatory 
signs should be erected which are sufficiently explicit that pupils 
and visitors may understand what' is seen and may learn much 
from mere observation. 

Upkeep. — At all times every portion of the land laboratory 
should be properly fertilized, well cultivated, tidy, orderly, and 




^^^ ^t'Mii' *•*>&% ^ -jS* '^ ^^^^ 








^. "i--.^ H'-.; 



Fir,, l.")."! -\ !ii.iicl ]iiftlii»l (il niaikiiijj; flio land laboratory enterprises is shown in this 
demonstration of cover crop on school land laboratory in California. (H. I. Schnabel.) 

free from M^eeds, and rubbish (Fig. 156). The land laboratory is 
intended to l)e a factor in teaching, and as such it is quite certain 
to perform its function. Whether what it teaches is the best or 
only the indifferently good or even the really worst is for the person 
in charge to determine by the wisdom and skill with which he 
handles the land laboratory. 

Uses, General. — The land laboratory is used to objectify prin- 
ciples and to illustrate certain processes that cannot be fully under- 
stood except by actual performance. Its principal purpose is to 
serve as a means of teaching the pupils of the agriculture classes 
in the school (Fig. 156). Its use as an extension factor in teaching 
the out-of-school population is wholly secondary. It may also 
be used to supply in part the lack of certain previous, practical, 



304 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



concrete experiences of pupils and also to provide new concrete 
experiences during the course of school instruction which it is 
impractical to obtain at the time from the farms. It is also to 
furnish opportunities for observation of agricultural conditions 
which are valuable in the learning process, but which, because of 
the difficulty of taking pupils to local farms, would not be done 




Fio. 156. — Students should he tauglit the liortifultural skills and many others on the 
school land. (R. S. Markintosh.) 



at the right time or not done at all. It also makes it possible for 
the teacher of agriculture to control the time and conditions so 
his pupils will be enabled to see what they need to see and at the 
time they need to see it. It is preeminently adapted to group 
teaching, in which it excels the indoor laboratory work. In a 
school period an entire class can be taught how to perform some 
process, such, for example, as transplanting tomato plants, and 
can be given actual joractice in doing it under guidance and criti- 
cism and thus prepare for their home project work. 

It is especially valuable in influencing the choice of the sequence 



USES, GENERAL 305 

of the topics in the curriculum and in vitaHzing the teaching when 
this sequence is pursued. The teacher with foresight can by the 
use of the land laboratory objectify the most important portions 
of his agriculture work, so far as it deals with plant industry, at 
the exact time the pupils are interested in any particular topic. 

It also furnishes the best possible opportunity for the use of 
the problem method of study and teaching. 

A problem of seed or soil, or planting or cultivating, or care or 
harvesting is imminent, and after finding from the library the 
standards proposed by others for its solution the class may discuss 
the procedure and then proceed to its actual solution in the 
land laboratory. 

It does not remove the necessity for trips to observe conditions 
and procedure, nor does it in any manner take the place of demon- 
strations on local farms for the community benefit, nor of the home 
project work of the pupil. Observations on farms are necessary 
where actual farm conditions and actual farm procedure on a 
practical farming scale are to be comprehended by the pupils; 
but there are many principles and smaller practices which the 
pupils need to have made objective to them when a trip is imprac- 
ticable and for which the teacher needs to have the conditions 
under his own control. These belong on the land laboratory of 
the school. 

Demonstrations intended for the observation of practical farm- 
ing with the purpose of improving the farm practices of the neigh- 
borhood through imitation should be placed on a local farm well 
situated for easy inspection. There is little use for them on the 
land laboratory of the school excepting, possibly, in a new country 
where the farmers are not yet prepared to take charge of them. 
There is no reason why even those placed on the farmer's farm 
should not be under the auspices of the school, but the conditions 
of soil, care and management should be met as they would be on 
a regular farm. 

If the pupil is to conduct a project consisting of a definite farm 
management unit wdth financial profit as one of the factors, it 
should be on the home farm or a similar portion of land which is 
under the control of the pupil, and not on the land laboratory. 
The home project specializes upon one thing while the land labora- 
tory deals with fundamental facts, principles, and processes which 
the pupil needs to know in order that he may apply them to any 
one of many projects. This objectifying of underlying, essential 
20 



306 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



truths applicable to farming operations distinguishes the land 
laboratory from the home project, which aims at the actual perform- 
ance of some one related series of farm operations under practical 
farm conditions for the rewards usually expected to follow such 
performance. For this reason the land laboratory is indispensable 
for good agriculture work in the elementary grades and the high 
school regardless of the amount of emphasis which may be laid 
upon the field trips, farm demonstrations, or home projects. Fa,r 
from detracting from any of the others, it prepares the pupil to 
reap a larger benefit from them. 

Uses, Specific. — The manifold difficulties attending the equip- 
ping and operating of a school "farm" make it necessary that the 



Fig. 157. 



Fig. 158. 




Fig. 157. — Among other things to teach on the land laboratory is the field selection of seeds. 
These students are selecting cotton for seed. See directions in agronomy chapter. (G. R. 

Ransom, Okla.) 
Fig. 158. — On the school land teach the methods of de-tasseling barren stalks and alternate 

rows of corn. 

land laboratory shall ])e small, that animal study (excepting such 
small animals as poultry) be excluded, and that it be used primarily 
as a feature of the regular school agricultural work and only second- 
arily as a feature of the extension work of the agricultural depart- 
ment. Its greatest usefulness will be in the subjects of farm crops, 
horticulture, soils, and poultry. 

In farm crops, methods of seed selection (Figs. 157 and 158), 
bi-eeding, harvesting, grading, storing, and testing may be studied 
and practiced, each new class inheriting in the fall the crops planted 
by their predecessors in the spring and in like manner leaving an 
inheritance to their successors of the next year. Frequently the 
classes can he combined for the fall work. In this way the "ear 



USES, SPECIFIC 



307 



to row" test of corn; the "bin" selection, tuber unit, followed by the 

" hill " selection of potatoes, and similar processes may be conducted. 

Plant studies such as foliage, stalk, and fruit characteristics; root 

distribution; disease resistance; yield in relation to seed character- 

FiG. 159. Fig. 160. 




Fig. 159. — Students learning to save money by making their own lime-sulfur on the land 

laboratory instead of buying ii already prepared. (Joelton, Tenn.) 
Fig. 160. — Spraying school trees with same material to kill San Jose scale. (Horace 

McMurtry.) 




Fig. ir.l.— Top wnrking of fruit trees by students, Ontario, Calif. Sufficient trees maybe 

grown on a half acre to furnish the school orchard practice for a class. The community 

and home project work will give more. (Chas. J. Booth.) 

istics, soil preparation, and methods of cultivation; diseases and pests 
and their treatment can be easily adapted to class work (Figs. 159 and 
160) . The various processes of plant propagation, pruning, ti'imming, 
and care (Fig. 161); processes of soil preparation; processes of seed 
testing and preparation, such as potato cutting, may be illustrated 



308 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



to entire classes. Some of these exercises lend themselves well to 
demonstrations on the local farms if suitable ones are available. 

Crops unfamiliar to pupils and not easily available for study- 
in the neighborhood may be produced on the land laboratory and 
studied as they grow. New varieties may be treated in the same 
manner, though when it is deemed advisable to test varieties for 
the purpose of discovering their adaptation to local use it should 
be done in a regular way on a local farm. Grains, legumes, forage 
crops, tubers, roots, and small fruits may thus be introduced on 




Fig. 1(52. — While the land laboratory may contain a typical home garden for_ teaching pur- 
poses, the gardens of the pupils should be on the home ground whenever possible, as is that 
of the school girl shown above. (W. V. Longley.) 

the land laboratory of the school and the better varieties devel- 
oped later on the local farms. 

Another justifiable use of the land laboratory is for the raising 
of supplies for use in the indoor laboratoiy. Much of the needed 
indoor laboratory material may be obtained only from surrounding 
farms, but there is a great deal needed which can be obtained bj'- 
raising it. This plan has the advantage that the school is able to 
obtain specimens at the various stages of growth and to preserve 
them in that stage for future study, besides the obvious one of 
studying the process of growth in the live plant which is impractical 
if trips must be made to local farms for that purpose. 

In producing laboratory supplies it is not advisable to raise each 



USES, SPECIFIC 



309 



year a small supply of everything needed the next year, but a large 
enough quantity of one kind should be raised one year to last several 
years, a several years' supply of some other things being raised each 
succeeding year. Such supplies must be carefully prepared for stor- 




Fio. 103. — This ten-acre land laboratory at the high school, Beinidji, Minnesota, with the 

use of the land of the adjoining fair grounds, enabled the school to render invaluaJale benefits 

to the students and to the pioneer farmers of this new part of the state. 




Fig. 104. — A "close up" view of a small portion of above farm devoted to instructing the 
younger pupils in gardening. (B. M. Gile. ) 

age and placed where they are safe from vermin, light, heat, cold, or 
moisture according to their characteristics. There are many bulle- 
tins giving specific instructions on how to prepare and preserve them. 
While vegetable gardens of individual pupils are better upon 
the home grounds (Fig. 162) or vacant land near the home, one 
of the most valuable uses of the school land laboratory is to main- 
tain a typical family vegetable garden (Figs. 163 and 164). Few 



310 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



families know how to plan and care for a good vegetable garden 
and still fewer do so. Such a garden on the land laboratory should 
be a class problem so all pupils may become familiar with all the 
features of it. The class should plan, select seeds, plant, and care 




Fio. IC'. — This (.'ciiiTil view <i( the iatul 1 ilionfc)r\ if Slr-cpy Eye High Snhool shows 

horticulture and landheape work in the foreground and many field erop enterprises of the 

agriculture work in agronomy beyond. (J. A. Cederstrom.) 

for the garden. Such a garden should be arranged to economize 
man labor and use horse labor to the greatest possible extent. 
The plan should provide for the replacement of certain crops by 
later ones, for perennials such as asparagus, for small fruits, and 




corner of the same land laboratory. 



Cederstrom.) 



Fig. IGG. — A "close up' 

for all vegetables adapted to local conditions in quantities suitable 
for the typical family. Economic and efficient cultivation, harvest- 
ing, and storage should be taught. The preparation and care of 
this garden will furnish the opportunity of instructing in a group 
the entire class preparatory to their taking the same steps in their 
home gardens (Figs. 165, 166, and 167), thereby saving much time 
of the instructor that would otherwise need to be spent in trips to 



EQUIPMENT 



311 



individual gardens and many failures of pupils from attempting 
the process without sufficient previous instruction accompanied 
with practice. The produce from this typical garden can be sold 
as harvested or the home economics class, if there be one, can put 
it in containers and sell it in that form, the proceeds to be devoted 
to some justifiable school use. 

The ornamental campus of the school, the grounds of the 
teacherage, the playgrounds, and the land laboratory can be utilized 
in performing many of the pnt(M-priso« suggest(H_l in the chapters 




I II 111? — \ sill ill I )( lit loll lit the I mil I ihoi it my may be used to instruct pupils in gardening 
mcthodb s>o they can bucceed bettei in their home gardens. (A. J. Secor.) 

on horticulture, farm mechanics, and projects. In addition to 
teaching the specific processes involved, this will cultivate an 
interest and pride in the school and its property. 

Equipment. — ^On a small school "farm, " equipment is a serious 
item because of the initial expense and the continuously high 
overhead. Even on a large land laboratory the equipment is 
small, inexpensive, and relatively economical. If there is a suitable 
storage space in the school building and the land laboratory is 
sufficiently near, no building is necessary unless chickens or other 
small animals are to be kept. If tools, seed, and the small machines 
cannot be stored in the school building, a plain substantial building 
will be needed for that purpose on the land laboratory. The space 
therein should be carefully allotted to the different articles stored 
there and everj^hing'should be kept in its'place. Habituate the pupils 
to having "a place for everything and everything in its place." 

The schools should not own the horse-drawn machines, but 



312 



HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 



should hire horses, men and machines when such work is to be 
done. Some of the smaller machines driven by internal combustion 
engines ^ may be utilized to good advantage. There should be a 
supply of whatever tools are necessary to perform the work required 
by the curriculum. Those that are to be used by pupils should 
be in sufficient numbers that all may keep employed. Hotbeds, 
coldframes, lath houses, and whatever similar equipment the 
climate requires should be provided. If a greenhouse is not pro- 
vided at the schoolhouse (the better plan Fig. 168), one ma}^ be 
erected elsewhere on the land. In most localities it will be advis- 




FiG. 168. — Interior \new of greenhouse in Massaohusetts. Students may use sucii a house 
for early plant production, and the young plants may be sold in the market or transplanted 
to the school land. Such a greenhouse should be connected with the main building if possible. 

(E. H. Scott.) 

able to have the laboratory well fenced with woven wire high 
enough to prevent entrance except at the gate, which it may be 
necessary to keep locked at night and when the laboratory is not 
in charge of some one. All equipment should be the property of 
the school and should be carefully inventoried and the inventory 
checked twice a year. 

Care of the Land Laboratory. — The land laboratory should be 
in the direct charge of the teacher of agriculture. Sufficient funds 
should be set aside for its successful operation. All work not 
furnishing definite educational returns to the worker should be 
paid for from this fund in the employment of laborers, preference 
being given to competent agricultural students. Work which 

1 E.g., the various garden tractors. 



HOW TO MAIvE THE LAND LABORATORY PAY 



313 



pupils are required to do as a part of their educational activities 
should not be paid for any more than should laboratory work in 
chemistry or physics. Care must be taken that exact justice is 
done in this matter. 

While the agriculture teacher should not hesitate to don his 



Fig. 169. 



Fig. 170. 




Fig. 169.^Students working at twenty-five cents per hour with hoes in cabbage field. 
Fig. 170. — Three-acre truck garden where students work on the profit-sharing basis. 

(T. G. Brown.) 

working clothes and do anything necessary for the success of the 
educational work in this laboratory, or in an emergency to perform 
the non-educational work, the school cannot afford to have him 



Fir.. 171. — The school land may be used to grow plants to be sold for beautifying homes 
and schools. (J. \. Cederstrom.) 

neglect more important duties in order to perform the unskilled 
labor which can be procuredat much less expense (Figs. 169and 170). 
How to Make the Land Laboratory Pay. — ^The land laboratory 
is a teaching enterprise and not a farming enterprise. Like the 
class-room, the library, the chemical laboratory, and the physical 



314 HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 

laboratory of the school, its purpose is to spend money wisely for 
the education of the pupils and not to make money for the school 
treasury. It should be made to pay a profit, but the profit should 
be calculated in terms of knowledge and wisdom, not in dollars 
and cents. The first aim should be to produce the largest educa- 
tional return to the boys and girls. If in the legitimate pursuit 
of this aim and without hampering educational efficiency some 
money income can be produced to aid in reducing the cost, it should 
be welcomed (Fig. 171); but under no circumstances should the 
desire for a money income from the land laboratory be the cause 
of lessening in any way the efforts for the greatest possible educa- 
tional results. Indeed, if the cash income from a land laboratory 
(not a farm) were greater than the cash outlay, it should prompt a 
careful inquiry into the character and qualit}^ of the teaching of 
agriculture in that school. 

Problems of a Large School Farm. — Experience is rapidly demonstrating 
that for regidar elementary and secondary schools the use of land should be 
limited to an area no larger than is necessary to serve the need of a land 
laboratory as set forth in the preceding pages of this chapter. Special types 
of schools or unusual economic, sociological, or agricultural conditions may 
make advisable the use of a regular farm under the control of the school. 
If this is done, the principal problems confronting those in charge will not be 
those of the use of the land laboratory as an adjunct in the teaching of agricul- 
ture to the students of the school but will be that of making practical the 
operation of a fann by an institution instead of by an individual. 

In so far as the fann is used as an aid to teaching, the contents of the fore- 
going pages in this chapter will be of assistance. To overcome some of the 
difficulties arising from its being a fann instead of a laboratory the following 
condensed suggestions may be helpful. 

1. The principal difficulties arise from the following conditions: (a) The 
farm being either too small to be an economical farm management unit or too 
large to receive the proper attention of those in charge of the school; {h) con- 
taining too many endeavors to be financially profitable or too few to be edu- 
cationally efficient; (c) possessing too much capital for the educational return 
received or too httle for full success as a money making enterprise; {d) having 
too many heads, such as presidents, principals, boards, committees, teachers, 
and foremen, to be successful either educationally or financially; (e) too much 
fault-finding and diversity of opinion and too little encouragement and ap- 
proval; (/) too limited markets for products most advantageously raised on an 
institutional farm; {g) too difficult to coordinate the interest of the student 
with the necessary routine of a practical fann; {h) too difficult to demonstrate 
scientific processes, obtain the active interest of the farmer, and produce a 
profit in the same operation; {i) too many changes of agriculture teachers 
resulting in (j) too limited a mastery of the community situation by the school. 

2. All practical work which is distinctly educational should be performed 
by students without pay working under a competent foreman or instructor. 

3. Much of the labor on large farms should be performed by students 
pursuing school farm projects (Fig. 170). 

4. Certain areas on the farm should be apportioned among the students 



EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 315 

pursuing projects. Even the livestock of the farm may be apportioned among 
the students for project purposes. 

5. All routine, non-educational work on the farm not performed in the 
pursuit of projects should be paid for by the school farm, preference being 
given to students in employing this kind of labor. 

6. As foremen, superior students are to be preferred above unintel- 
ligent workmen. 

7. Let the products of the school farm projects and the othei" products 
of the school farm be sold at dining halls and elsewhere at regular market prices. 

8. Train students in salesmanship, in cooperation, and in studying market- 
ing conditions through marketing their own products. 

9. Stalls for the sale of school farm products may be established by stu- 
dents along the roadside or in city centers. Superior business methods should 
be used in preparing products for market, advertising, and conducting the 
marketing enterprise. 

10. Remember that one of the chief values of the large school farm is its 
influence upon the community. 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. State the size of any land laboratories with which you are famihar 
and tell what you know of the effect of the size upon the educational results. 

2. Give the distances of any such land laboratory from the school building, 
the length of time it takes a class to go between them, and the effects upon the 
work of the school. 

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the school district own- 
ing the land for the laboratory? ■ Leasing it? 

4. Make a drawing showing a desirable general plan for a land laboratory 
in your locaUty. Show relative dimensions and location of small fruits, trees, 
shrubs, annuals. 

5. Give the wording of explanatory signs that you would expect to see 
in a land laboratory. 

6. Describe a land laboratory you have seen. What did you learn that 
you were prompted to emulate? To avoid? 

7. What are the principal objections to the use of the land laboratory as 
an extension enterprise? 

8. Illustrate how the land laboratory might supply the pupil with a val- 
uable experience which he lacked. 

9. How it might save many trips to fanns. 

10. Relate a few specific ways in which the teacher can use the land labora- 
tory advantageously for group instruction. 

11. State five provisions the school may make on the land laboratory in 
the spring for valuable lessons to be learned in the fall. 

12. State five problems of interest to pupils that can be solved by the 
use of the land laboratory. 

13. Discriminate between the use of the land laboratory and observation 
trips to the farms; demonstration work on farms; home project work. 

14. Name three demonstrations best adapted to use on regular farms. 

15. State definitely five crop projects suitable for home work on farms 
in your locality. 

16. Show how the pupil's work on the land laboratory may fit him for 
more successful project work. 

17. Name ten specific things that would be suitable for placing on the land 
laboratory of the school. 

18. Do you know of any crops, or varieties, or processes that have entered 
your neighborhood by way of the land laboratory of the school? 



316 HOW TO USE A LAND LABORATORY 

19. Make a list of ten things needed for indoor laboratory work that 
should be produced on the land laboratory. 

20. Which of these could be perserved for three years? How? 

21. Draw a jjlan of a family vegetable garden suitable for your neighbor- 
hood, showing the location and arrangement of vegetables. 

22. Make a list of the vegetables that such a garden should contain, the 
amoimt of each that should be produced, and the space required to raise 
each amount. 

23. Draw a plan to scale that will produce the results projected in 
exercise 22. 

24. Make a list of the quantity of each kind of seed needed and the cost. 

25. If the garden products are put up by the home economics class and 
sold, how should the proceeds be apportioned between agriculture and 
home economics? 

26. Make a list of small machines that should be owned by the school for 
a land laboratory at your school, including prices. 

27. Make a hst of tools the teacher will need for his work. 

28. Make a Ust of tools pupils will need, and the cost of enough to supply 
a class of ten. 

29. Select a kind of woven-wire fencing for a land laboratory and give 
reasons for your choice. Detemime the entire cost of buying and erecting 
such a fence. 

30. What are some of the things the agriculture teacher should do himself 
on the land laboratory? Why? 

31. What should he hire done? Why? 

32. Why do some people expect the school land laboratory to pay a 
money profit? 

33. Is it advisable for a public school to run a farm? Why? 

34. Can a piece of school land from one-tenth to one-twentieth the size 
of a local farm be successful as a "model farm"? Why? 

35. Name some things that might be a source of income to the school 
land laboratory without detracting from its educational efficiencj'. 

REFERENCES 

"Division of Agricultural Education," University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 

Minn., Master's Thesis. (W. F. Lusk.) 
HuMMELL, W. G. AND Bertha R. I " Materials and Methods in High-School 

Agriculture." 
HuMMELL, W. G. : "Utilization of Land by High Schools Teaching Agriculture." 
Nolan, Aretas W.: "The Teaching of Agriculture." 
Stimson, Rufus W.; "Vocational Agricultural Education." 
Storm, A. V.: "The Teaching of Agriculture." 
Merritt, Etioene: "Use of Land in Teaching Agriculture in Secondary 

Schools," U. S. D. A. Bulletin 213, 1915. 



CHAPTER XV 
HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

ROOMS AND FURNITURE 

It is the business of the officers of organization and administra- 
tion to furnish the rooms and the equipment. It is the business 
of the teacher of agriculture to know what is needed and how it 
can be obtained and to urge the necessity upon them. The number 
and size of rooms and the amount and kind of equipment will 
depend upon the curriculum to be taught, the numbers and grades 
of students to take agriculture, the extent to which the agriculture 
department is to become a service center to the agricultural com- 
munity, and the money available. The idea, somewhat prevalent, 
that agriculture can be taught with no equipment and no expense 
is misleading. To be sure the subject is so rich in interest-creating 
content and ^o much illustrative material can be obtained from 
nearby farms that very valuable work can be done with very little 
cash outlay. This is true of physics, chemistry, and biology. But 
if really worth-while work is to be done, suitable rooms and equip- 
ment must be provided and money expended. If all needed equip- 
ment were to be owTied by the school, agriculture would be quite 
expensive; but some, such as animals and machinery, can be bor- 
rowed from members of the community ; others, such as test tubes 
and racks, ring stands, microscopes, dissecting needles and forceps, 
can be used in cominon with the science departments, while others 
that do not need great refinement or precision may be made in 
the shops of the school or by local workmen. Even with these 
plans well executed to their limits there will be much to purchase 
if the agriculture is to be well taught. 

Rooms. — If the needs of the school and the community were 
sufficient to warrant it, an agriculture department in a secondary 
school could use the following rooms: 

A recitation room, a laboratory adjacent, a dairy room, a com- 
bined livestock-judging, rough-work and machinery room, a store- 
room, a greenhouse, and a dark room. Few high schools with one 
agriculture teacher would attempt so elaborate a plan. 

A more practical arrangement for the high school of average 
size serving an agricultm'al community is a condensation and 
modification of this list. The laboratory and recitation work 

317 



318 HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 



would be done in one room with the fiu-niture arranged as stated 
later. The work connected with dairy products that is practiced 
on the ordinary farm, such as milk and cream testing and cream 




Fig. 172. — A small greenhouse is helpful in toarliing aKrioulture during the long winters 

of the northern states. When suitable materials are purchased, students can erect such a 

house. (\. A. Sather, N. Dak., and R. A. Mooney, N. H.) 

separating, can be performed in the recitation-laboratory room. 
The greenhouse is valuable in freezing latitudes, but can be 
used jointly by agriculture, botany, and other departments of the 
school (Fig. 172). 



PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENT FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL 319 

The dark room is not a necessity but is very valuable, not only 
for the agriculture but for other departments and could be used 
by all. It need not be large and may be in the interior of the 
building, and as it needs very little furnishing except running water 
and a sink it need not be expensive. 

Storage space is essential. • It may be, if necessary, space ill- 
adapted to class-room work, but should be dry, light enough to 
properly obtain and replace things, and convenient to the recita- 
tion room. 

If the gjonnasimn is in the basement or on the ground floor, 




Fio. 173. — By the use of plenty of sawdust and some home-made "bloaohers, " this sohool 
converted this space into a serviceable stock-judging room for the farmers' short course. 

accessible fr(fm outside through wide, high doors, it can be utilized 
for machinery work and stock judging by using a loose false floor 
or plenty of sawdust or similar covering (Fig. 173). 

By this arrangement the agriculture department occupies only 
one room suitable for regular class work of the schools, the other 
rooms being either inexpensive space not otherwise usable, or 
rooms used in conjunction with other activities of the school. 
If the recitation room and storage room are to be newly constructed, 
they should be made mouse-proof by concrete and woven wire 
construction. If rooms already constructed are to be used, they 
should be proofed as well as possible by use of these materials. 

The agriculture room should not be used for other purposes. 
The large amount of special equipment and supplies and the neces- 



320 HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

sity of keeping some of it in active duty from one day to the next 
make it difficult to use the room for other purposes without either 
causing mucli extra labor in caring for important and often expen- 
sive equipment or risking inconvenience and loss through the pres- 
ence of other classes. 

In addition to these rooms, a room for the farm shop work 
should be provided (Fig. 174) unless the school has provided suit- 
able room and equipment for its mechanic arts classes, in which 
case they may be used for instruction in farm mechanics (Fig. 175). 




Fig. 174. — Plan of room for farm shop \vr)rk at tlie scliool. (Bulletin, I'nix'ersity of State 

of N. V.) 



Fixtures. — The main agricultin-e room, the recitation-laboratory 
(Fig. 176), should have the general characteristics of any class-room 
and if possible be accessible from the outside so that farmers may 
enter without the embarrassment of traveling the school corridors. 
It should have electrical connection in the wall near the proper 
location of the stereopticon and reflectoscope. A sink with work 
table, running water, and waste pipe should be at the side of the 
room where it is light. Gas connection near the work table with 
a plate for heating water is convenient. Slate blackboard of 
maximum width at the fi'ont and the interior side of the room 



FIXTURES 



321 



with additional sliding blackboard at the front, are needed. Mold- 
ing should extend around the entire room for suspending pictures, 
charts, and certain apparatus, such as some types of seed-corn 
racks. Windows should be provided with close-fitting dark shades 
to darken the room for the use of the stereopticon and opaque 
projection. Folding display racks should be attached to the wall 
at the front of the room. If a motion picture machine is to be used 
in this room, a platform, perhaps movable, in the rear of the room 
to elevate the machine above the heads of the audience should be 




Fig. 175. — Shop and articles, inchiding benches, made by students in vocational agriculture, 
at Lcmar, Ark. Equipment for teaching farm shop work need not be expensive. (M. R. 

Ensign.) 



provided and such a booth as insurance rules and the kind of 
machine and film require. It is probably better to have the motion 
picture machine placed in the assembly room or other large room 
of the school and to take the agriculture classes there for any 
agricultural films that are used. 

A good screen for slides and reflectoscope work should be mounted 
on a spring roller over the blackboard at the front of the room. 

Cupboards, displaj'- cases, and similar equipment may be a part 
of the fixtures by being attached permanent^ to the walls, but as 
changing the agriculture work to other quarters is always a possi- 
bility, as also is salvaging in case of fire, it is a wise precaution to 
provide them as furniture rather than fixtures. 
21 



322 HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

The storage room should have open shelves for general supplies ; 
locked cupboards for those requiring greater care; vermin-proof 
containers for such supplies as attract vermin ; racks for such things 




Fig. 176. — Back and front of main agricultural room, Stanley, Wisconsin. The cases at 
the left are convenient, but should be protected from dust. 

as corn trays (unless they are provided in the recitation room); 
hooks for such things as can be so stored ; and open floor space for 
such apparatus as trap nests, cream separators, and seed-corn 
graders when not in use. The room should be well locked, with 



FURNITURE 



323 



keys for the teacher, the custodian of the building, and the executive 
officer of the school. 

The dark-room should have running water and waste-pipe con- 
nections, sink, light (electric preferred) with ruby protection and 
ruby windows, and should be light tight. 

The greenhouse should be so placed as to be in the sun all day 
and easily accessible from the agriculture and the botany rooms. 

If the g;yTiinasium is to be used for stock judging or farmers' 
week meetings, extra bleachers may be provided, so constructed 
that they can be taken apart and removed to be stored when not 




Fig. 177. — This combined assembly room, stock pavilion, display room, and gymnasium is 

worth thoughtful consideration by schools able to erect and to use to advantage a building 

of its dimensions and cost. (H. N. Loomis.) (See text.) 

in use. A gangplank, smooth on one side for machinery and 
cleated on the, other for livestock, should be provided. Little else 
is necessary for fixtures in this room.^ 

Furniture. — The teacher should have a combined desk and 
demonstration table, with plenty of drawers and a stain-proof and 
mar-proof top, and large enough to provide space for any 
desired demonstration. 

There are two good plans for combining the recitation and 
laboratory work in one room. The students may be provided with 
flat-top working tables, narrow and long, accommodating two 

1 Smith Agricultural School, Northampton, Mass., has a combined stock 
pavilion, assembly room, and display room which is worthy of study if so 
elaborate an arrangement is desired (Fig. 177). 



324 



HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 



pupils sitting side by side and both facing the front of tlie room 
(Fig. 178). Directly under the table top are three shallow drawers. 
Under the middle drawer is another drawer, and under this a large 
cupboard for larger articles to be used in common. The drawers 
are fitted with master-keyed locks. Small, closely constructed 




/9— I 



CND 



mo NT 

Fig. 178, — Photograph and working drawing of agriculture-laboratory table described in 

the text. This is a modification by A. M. Field and J. V. Ankeney of a biology table made 

by the Kewaunee Mfg. Co., Kewaunee, Wisconsin. 

chairs without arms are used. Tables and chairs are loose from 
the floor. All pupils sit facing the teacher's desk (or any other 
point desired), no pupil is facing another, each has working space, 
writing space, and drawer space available at any moment without 
the confusion of moving. 

With this arrangement any portion or portions of any recitation 
may be devoted to any method of instruction, quiz, examination, 
lecture, laboratory, conversation, demonstration, or a combination 



FURNITURE 



325 



of any or all of them without loss of time or attention and with the 
best possible conditions surrounding the pupil and the teacher for 
each method. 

Such a pupils' work table was designed b}^ the faculty of the 
Division of Agricultural Education of the University of Minnesota 




Fig. 179. — Front and rear of main agricultural room, Cleveland, Tennessee, showing type 
of chairs, wall charts, teaching materials, apparatus case, and bookcase. (Jas. T. Lovell.) 

and manufactured for them by the Kewaunee Manufacturing Com- 
pany, Kewaunee, Wisconsin. Compare with figure 180, where the 
pupils face both ends of the room. 

Another plan, though not so desirable, is to have the pupils' 
chairs, preferably with writing arms (Fig. 179), compactly arranged 
near the teacher's desk and facing it, with work tables back of them 



326 



HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 



seated with small chairs without writing arms. When pupils are 
enfjaged in laboratory work they are seated at the work tables, 
and when reciting, in the chairs near the teacher's desk. 




Pig. 180. — Plenty of table and work-^^liflf sml;i,ce is desirable, as is also a goml jrlass-front 

cabinet filled with supplies for laboratory. For better style of tables and arrangement of 

class, see text. (S. R. S., U. S. D. A.) 




(■> c.f ^lass-f^■ont fnhinets designed by an agriculture instructor. The 
\Mi> ;Ml"iitc(l after cxiK'riencc with the swinging doors. The cups were 
won in judging by the school pupils. (W. V. Longley.) 

As the best teaching procedin-e in secondary schools is to utilize 
during the class period any "method" or combination of methods 
which the character of the subject matter or state of mind of pupil 
or pupils makes advisable instead of a "lecture" or recitation on 
Monday and a "laboratory" on Wednesday regardless of the sub- 



FURNITURE 



327 



ject sequence of pupils' needs, the furniture and the room arrange- 
ment ought to provide for this procedm-e with the least waste of 
time and effort. Both of the above plans are adapted to this 
procedure, though the former is plainly the better. The most 
coimnon arrangement fails to meet these requirements (Figs. 176 
and 180). 

If the teacher is to use a combination of methods, he must have 
readily accessible those supplies for which there is a probability 
he will have need at class time. For this purpose, near his desk, 



^ 


1 






=• 


-i 


"^ 






II II II 




















ri 



3 t 







■5 r 



Fig. 182. — A cabinet for agriculture rooms. The cupboard top is free from the base. It is 
fitted with sliding doors having ball-bearing sheaves and track. One door is fitted with an 
Eagle No. 2001 combination lock; the other, with either lock or a common cupboard catch. 
The drawers have projected chamfered fronts, tight bottoms, and are locked by an automatic 
locking device controlled by the two middle drawers of the top row, which are in turn locked 
by combination locks. The drawers should be fitted with card frames or holders and pulls 
or card-holder pulls. The top mav be built up of birch or some soft wood. The strips should 
be doweled and glued, with grain opposed. The top should be attached to the base with 
wood buttons and screws to provide for expansion and contraction. Top of base should have 
acid-proof finish. The remainder of the case may be stained and oiled, or stained, shellacked, 
and waxed. (Ankeney and Field.) 

there should be a wall cabinet with sliding glass doors above and 
various sizes of drawers (and a door opening to shelves) below 
(Figs. 181 and 182). With these spaces varied in size he can have 
what he needs, in good order and ready for use. 

In schools where a large amount of time is expended on some- 
thing of large local interest, such as corn in the corn-belt regions, 
a special cabinet built to receive the trays upon which a five or 
ten ear sample is placed may be provided. The trays should be 



328 HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACmiNCi AGRICULTURE 

adapted to the size of the pupils' work tables and the cabinet to 
the trays. The cabinet should be vermin-proof. 

In addition to the direct teaching done by the instructor, pupils 
learn much from their surroundings in moments of comparative 
leisure. To utilize this, as well as to have available for regular 
class use manj^ helpful articles, wall space not otherwise used 
ought to be occupied by display cases with glass doors and by 
pictures and charts. These should be changed from time to time 
to conform to the character of the class work. Typical and supeiior 
specimens of grains during the work on cereals; grasses and hays 
during the study of forage crops; pictures of horses, cattle, sheep, 
swine, and poultry, while each kind of animal is being studied, 
will increase the interest and comprehension of the students. The 
parts of such cases too low for display purposes can be utilized 
for the storage of materials frequently needed to avoid the delay 
and loss of time consequent upon taking them to and from the 
storage room. The purchase of such teaching aids and the cabinets, 
cases, and frames to contain them with district funds is as defensible 
as the purchase of books and the employment of teachers. 

Drawing tables for work in farm mechanics and farm manage- 
ment, or temporary attachments provided for the regular class- 
room work tables, should be supplied unless the tables of some other 
school department can be made available for . the agriculture work. 

If the agricultural reference books are to be organized as a 
departmental library, suitable cases should be installed for them 
and for bulletins, and racks for periodicals. 

A portable blackboard of wood pulp or of slated cloth is a great 
convenience and should be provided. 

APPARATUS 

The apparatus needed for teaching the various branches of 
agriculture such as agronomy, poultry, and others is mentioned in 
the chapters of this book devoted to those subjects. But it is well 
to call attention here to a few things of general serviceability in the 
teaching of any and all of them which each school should purchase. 

A good lantern and a suitable supply of slides are essential. 
No high school should attempt to teach agriculture without them. 
There are five or six desirable types of lanterns on the market 
adapted to the use of electricity and of gas for illuminants. Defi- 
nite information regarding their adaptability to different • sets of 
conditions can usually be obtained from the college of agriculture. 



STEREOSCOPE 329 

Sets of slides to illustrate the different topics can often be bor- 
rowed from the State College of Agriciilture or from the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, or may be purchased from supply 
houses. They may be borrowed from commercial companies 
having educational departments. The head of the department of 
agriculture in the State College of Agriculture or the state super- 
visor of agriculture can give the names and addresses of such 
supply houses. 

An opaque projector to throw on the screen pictures, diagrams, 
drawings, and other opaque material not of sufficient general use 
to warrant the expense of making into slides is valuable and ought 
to be bought, if the local source of illumination is sufficiently strong 
and funds are availal)le.- 

A good camera ought to be a part of the equipment to enable the 
taking of local pictures that have great educational value and 
cannot be made available for future use except in the form of lan- 
tern slides or opaque projection. The expense of the camera and 
of the supplies for taking, developing, and printing those pictm-es 
that are for school use should be borne by the school district. 

Charts on muslin, oilcloth, or heavy paper or press board should 
be supplied at district expense to the extent needed by the school 
for its class work and for the community extension work done by 
the school.^ 

A motion picture projection machine^ can be afforded by some 
schools and is found to be of great value. A large standard machine 
may be installed in the assembly room or other large audience room 
and used by the agricultm-e classes when films are available. Many 
of the national livestock registry associations of the different breeds 
of cattle, hogs, horses, and sheep have films for free service. These 
may usualty be obtained from the secretary of the association. 
Obtain the revised addresses of livestock associations from yom- 
state supervisor of agriculture. 

There are several small portable machines using non-inflam- 
mable films which can be used in any school-room without a booth. 
For these there are numbers of educational films. Such a machine 
may serve many schools of a district. More detailed information 
on the foregoing apparatus may be found in the chapter on Charts, 
Slides, and Films." 

A stereoscope of improved model with well selected views will 
add greatly to the teaching efficiency." 

2 See Chapter XVI and Appendix. 



330 HOW TO EQUIP FOR TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

Typical specimens of grains in head (Fig. 179) and in seed, 
weeds, and weed seeds in convenient containers may usually be 
purchased from the State College of Agriculture or the school 
supply houses. 

Pictures of plants, animals, machines, buildings, and farm equip- 
ment should be obtained even if they must be purchased. Provide 
many agricultural placards. 

A duplicator such as a rotating mimeograph or a jelly pad hec- 
tograph should be in every school.^ They will be useful in pre- 
paring survey topics, preparing special score cards for farms, for 
projects, for surveys, preparing outlines, programs, reviews, lesson 
plans, and lists of references. 

Other Apparatus. — A good set of scales is so necessary at all 
times that the agriculture department should be supplied independ- 
ent of the other departments. Many other supplies and some appa- 
ratus can be used coordinately with other departments. 

In addition to the special apparatus mentioned in Chapters V 
to XII, inclusive, there should be a sufficient supply of wide-mouth 
bottles and screw-top bottles, of various sizes; glass and earthen- 
ware jars and crocks; cups, plates, trays, scoops; and wood and 
metal containers of various capacities. 

Adapt Equipment to Local Use. — Not every school can afford the 
space and equipment just described, though it is what every good 
school of average size should have. Each teacher must study his 
curriculum, his classes, and his funds and come as near as possible 
to the ideal equipment. If agriculture is to be introduced into the 
school gradually, he may provide each year only those things most 
essential for that year's work, adding other necessities as other 
years of work are added. When all the most urgently needed 
features have been obtained, additional desirable ones may 
be added. 

Very helpful suggestions for equipment will be found in Pro- 
fessor W. G. Hummel's "Materials and Methods in High-school 
Agriculture" (Macmillan) and Professor A. W. Nolan's "The 
Teaching of Agriculture" (Houghton, Mifflin). 

Every piece of furniture and apparatus should have a definite 
place, out of the way of the regular class work, but easily obtained 
for use, and should be kept there, dean and in good order. Adminis- 
trative officers should see that no more equipment and apparatus 
are supplied a teacher than he is willing to care for properly. 

' See Appendix recipes. 



REFERENCES 331 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. Draw to scale a plan for a group of agriculture rooms adapted to a 
school of your acquaintance stating briefly the demands of the curriculum 
and the school. 

2. Lay out to scale the floor plan of the combined class-room and laboratory 
of the school used in exercise 1, showing the location of furniture, apparatus, 
windows, blackboards, doors, and water, gas, and hght conditions. 

3. Make to scale a floor plan of a practical school greenhouse, showing its 
relation to the high school building. 

4. Prepare a card index or other list of the various hvestock and registry 
associations in the United States including your state and local ones with the 
names and addresses of the secretaries, from whom valuable pictures and printed 
matter may be obtained. 

5. Draw to scale an elevation of the shelving required for a storage room 
with which you are acquainted. 

6. Draw to scale a seating plan for a certain class and laboratory room 
which you know. 

7. Enumerate the advantages of having pupils do their class and labora- 
tory work at the same table; also of having all pupils face the front of the 
room instead of having pupils facing each other. The disadvantages. 

8. Make a rough sketch of a cabinet for holding ear corn samples to have 
them safe and convenient for study. 

9. For what general equipment would you spend your first $200? (Give 
name and price of each article.) 

REFERENCES 

Lists of equipment of the kinds mentioned in this chapter may be obtained 
from the following sources (see also sources of Usts in Appendix) : 

Furniture, fixtures, and apparatus from the State Supervisor of Voca- 
tional Agriculture; the State College of Agriculture; the Agricultural Instruc- 
tion Division, States Relation Service, U. S. D. A.; and the school 
supply houses. 

Specimens of plants from the State College of Agriculture; the U. S. D. A.; 
commercial seed houses; Boards of Trade that deal in the various farm crops; 
and the school supply houses. 

Pictures of animals from the various livestock registry associations. 

Pictures (and occasionally .small models) of machines from the 
manufacturers. 

Miscellaneous special exhibits of manufactured products from the firms 
manufacturing them (obtain list from the Agricultural Instruction Division, 
States Relation Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture). 

Farmers' Bui. 586, Collection and Preservation of Plant Materials. 



CHAPTER XVI 
HOW TO TEACH THROUGH CHARTS, SLmES, AND FILMS 

Growing Importance. — ^That "seeing is believing" has long 
been accepted as sound psychology. The sense of sight is one of 
the two major senses concerned in the learning process. Its value 
in object teaching ^nd in textbook study have long been appreci- 
ated. Inventions and improvements have given a new significance 
to visual instruction. To the blackboard and the map, the only 
generally used means of visual instruction of the generation just 
past, have been added charts, stereopticons and slides, opaque 
projectors, motion picture films, stereographs, and other means of 
visual instruction for groups. All of these are especially helpful 
in teaching agriculture, particularly when real objects cannot be 
present for class use. The agriculture teacher who is not prepared 
to utilize these vital aids in his teaching is poorly equipped to meet 
modern demands and should lose no time in fitting himself to use 
them with skill and efficiency. The school which is not making 
provision to supply its agriculture department with the materials 
needed for carrying on this type of teaching is handicapping its 
pupils in their efforts to obtain the best in education. Charts are 
so easily made, pictures, slides, views, and the machines with which 
to project them are so numerous, effective, and relatively inexpen- 
sive that there is little reason for a school not having any or all of 
them for use especially in its agriculture classes. Motion picture 
projectors are expensive and film service both quite expensive and 
poorly organized at present; but as the enterprise is still in its 
infancy and undergoing very rapid development, schools may look 
for motion pictures to become both a practical and a relatively 
cheap means of visual instruction in the near future. Both teachers 
and school officers should not only be ready for that day when it 
arrives, but in the meantime should hasten its coming, whenever 
funds can be procured, by introducing it into their schools in the 
form of definite visual teaching. 

Blackboard. — Few teachers make the most efficient use of the 
l)lackboard. Tables, drawings, diagrams, outlines, and similar rep- 
resentations for temporary use placed on the board before the 
pupils assemble may mark the difference between a superior lesson 
332 



BLACKBOARD 



333 



and one that is only mediocre. Some agricultm'e and rural life 
stencils may be obtained^ and reproduced upon the board. During 
the recitation the live teacher not only has pupils work on the 
board but uses it freely as a means of illustrating his teachings. 
In addition to the permanent blackboards the teacher of. agricul- 
ture should have one or two sliding blackboards at the front of the 
room not only to increase the amount of board space but to keep 

SILAGE MAKES CHEAP MILK 
IT TAKES LESS GRAIN 

Z LOTS-4 COWS EACH-4 MO.-OHIO 
PROFIT PER COW PER MO. 



GRAIN RATION 



SILAGE RATION 



SZ.46 



5.86 



COST OF 100 LBS MILK 



GRAIN RATION 



SI.06 



SILAGE RATION 



.69 



Fig. 183. — This arrangement of the bar graph permits the economical arrangement of expla- 
nations, data in figures, and relative magnitudes. (After P. G. Holden.) 

obscured till needed certain material placed there before the reci- 
tation period. At least one (preferably more) slated cloth black- 
board, mounted on wooden chart sticks or rollers, should be 
provided so that whatever is desired can be placed on it outside 
of the class-room and displayed at recitation time without loss of 
time. Both sides of the cloth being slated, a large amount of such 
work is made easily transportable from place to place. 

1 P. G. Holden, Director Extension Department, Harvester Building, 
Chicago. 



334 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

Charts. — The chart is the most universally adaptable and uni- 
formly effective and the most economical means yet discovered 
for concentrating the attention of a group of persons upon the thing 
to be taught (Fig. 183). It can be used in the class-room, in the 
laboratory, on the land laboratory, in a public assembly room, on 
the street, in a railroad car, in the field, at a picnic, a fair, a church 
service, a convention, or any other gathering, large or small, in 
natural light or artificial light, day or night, in sun or in shade. 
It requires neither special illumination nor inconvenient accessories. 
Made of proper materials, it may be destroyed after one use without 
great loss or may be used a thousand times with no other than the 
initial expense (Fig. 184). As the textbook is one of the best 
friends of the learner, so the chart should become one of the l)est 
friends of the teacher. It has special value to the teacher of 
agriculture because of being adapted not only to his class work 
in the school but also to his extension work in the community. 
Every teacher should know not only how to use charts but also 
how to make them, because much of the material. he wishes placed 
upon them is local, or recent and changing. Not only should 
teachers make charts, but it is well to have students in high schools 
make them occasionally for use in reporting their projects or topics 
at community meetings, graduating exercises, or other public places. 

Equipment and Materials for Making Charts. — A chart board 
of the size of the largest chart to be made is the first essential. 
School charts are sometimes made four feet square, or even 3x4 
feet; but as charts for public use should not be less than five feet 
square, a chart board of this size (or preferably six feet square) is 
desirable. It should be smooth, straight, and without elevations 
or depressions that will prevent an even impression being made 
upon the chart materials by the working tools. The board should 
be of some wood soft enough to receive thumb tacks and not in- 
clined to warp. The pieces of which it is made should be matched 
and cleats so attached to the back as to provide for shrinking and 
swelling. If the school is willing to go to the additional expense, 
a "glued up" board can be purchased that will neither shrink nor 
warp. A relatively inexpensive chart board may be produced by 
making a rough foundation of common light wood and facing it 
with a piece of pulp board of superior quality. 

The chart board should be located where there is good light on 
it and where; shadows from the worker do not interfere with the 
work. A heavy straight-edge about two and one-half to three 



33G TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

inches wide and as long as the chart board is wide should be so 
mounted as to be held in place as a fi;uide to the letters used 
in stampinjj; or the crayon, or brush, or other instrument used in 




Fig. 1S5. — This shows the chart board and frame described in the text, with a young lady 

of medium height or less working at it. If economy needs to be practiced, sacrifice on the 

frame and attachments and not on the board itself. 

making the chart. If marked off into inches, it will be helpful in 
side spacing. This may rest on pegs placed in numbered peg holes 
that arc along the right and left edges of the board. 

The chai-t board should be mounted so it will b{^ firm and steady. 
If it is to remain in one place, it may be mounted on a simple frame- 
work which is fastened to the wall. If the board is given a slight 



RUBBER TYPE 337 

slant backward at the top, it is better for work (Fig. 185) . If the 
chart board is hinged to the wall, with loose-pin hinges, the bottom 
may be drawn out from the wall to any angle desired. 

If money is available and a movable and adjustable frame and 
board are desirable, a braced framework rolling on heavy casters 
can be made and the board movmted so as to be raised and lowered 
by counter-balancing weights, operating cords passing over pulleys 
located at the top, or better, a chain and crank with ratchet and 




Fig. 186. — This is the style of letter to use in making charts. Free from all extra lines and 

uniform in outline, they are most easily distinguished. This is the three-inch size. Other 

practical sizes for chart work are 2}-^, 2, and 1 inch. 

pawl. The straight-edge is then made to slide up and down on 
heavy rods upon which it can be fixed in position with thumb set- 
screws.2 Provision is also made for mounting a roll of chart cloth 
so it can be drawn over the board and the chart not cut from the 
roll until it is completed. 

Rubber Type. — Each school should be equipped with two or 
three fonts of single-letter rubber stamps. These should be of 
plain simple face (Fig. 186) and should have an elastic back, either 
Buchs cushioned back or sponge cushioned back, so they will 

2 Such an apparatus with a "ghied up" board is in use by the Division of 
Agricultural Education, University of Minnesota. (Fig. 185.) 
22 



338 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

adjust themselves readily to the slightest inequality of surface or 
of pressure.^ The large font should have a vertical measurement 
of three inches. Other useful sizes for charts are two inches and 
two and one-half inches. If a small font for explanations and other 
data, visible only at close range and hence not confusing to the 
audience, is desired, one of the same style of letter measuring one- 
half inch can be obtained. 

Ink, Crayon, and Fixative. — A superior quality of black chart 
ink (rubber stamp or mimeograph) and large ink pads to hold 
it will be needed. Since even with the greatest care there will be 
occasionally a portion of a letter which is not well inked, and since 
attempts at making a second impression causes blurring and untidy 
work, a good quality of heavy black wax crayon should be at hand 
for retouching the letters. It will be needed also for drawing lines, 
filling in graphs and other drawings. If colors are to be used (and 
they should seldom be used and then sparinglj^), crayons will be 
needed for that purpose. 

If freehand work is to be attempted, suitable brushes, pens, and 
pencils may be provided. A good form of chart ink or paint, for 
use with a small pointed brush, is made by mixing a little varnish 
with turpentine and lampblack. This can be made of any con- 
sistency to suit, and works well on sign cloth. Never use oil with 
it, as this causes the paint to spread in the grain of the cloth. 

It is advisable to use a fixative on such work as is likely to 
"crock" or blur. Special caution is needed in this regard with 
crayon work. Such fixatives are to be used in a sprayer. They 
may be obtained from drawing-supply houses or made at the school, 
one part shellac to three or four parts of wood alcohol. Pastel 
crayons ai'(» good for color work. 

Chart Paper and Cloth. — Charts to be used only a few times 
may be most economically made upon any tough colored paper 
and, if for a small group of persons, can be made sufficiently plain 
and in a short time by the freehand use of a good black wax crayon. 
This is much more economical of time and materials than to use 
the rubber stamps on cloth. 

Charts to be used many times or before large audiences, or to 
be packed and unpacked frequently, should be made on a very 
superior quality of bleached muslin, about the quality of Pequot 

^ Such alphabets of rubber type can be obtained from SaUsbury-Schultz 
Co., Chicago; and wood cuts of the same from Curtis-Johnson Printing Co., 
Chicago. 



CHART STAND 



339 



2 PIECES OF LUMBER, 
1/ l"x4"x2o" FORM 
THE BASE 



® 



STAY FOE CHART HEADiTIcK TO REST IN 

1^. 





® 



UPRIGHT 

ATTACHED 

TO BASE 



■4EAP5TICK 1' ir-JCrt Sa GY 3 FT LONd 



IT 




-I 




AGRICULTURAL 
LECTURE CHARTS 






FIGHT JBFLY 






INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY 











CHARTS HAlLtD TO 
1 INCH HEAOSTIC K. 



® 



@ 



— APItCE. 
OF SHEET 
IlJOhf 4"» 6" 
BENT AT 
i^rOKT AXGLBS 
I'FROnTOP 



UPRIGHT 



BEVELED BR.ACE 
rX4X 2' FT 



© 




BKACE IN POSITION 




Fig. 1S7.— This chart stand can be made in the school shop and will serve well unless much 
traveling is to be done with the charts. (I. H. Co.) 



340 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

or Golden State brand, 54 to 60 inches wide, by the use of the rubber 
stamp letters described. 

Regular sign cloth, 36 inches or more in width, may often be 
found at dry goods stores. It is not as durable as muslin but makes 
attractive temporary charts. For the most durable charts, white 
oilcloth is sometimes used but is very heavy. Such charts should 
be rolled and never folded for carrying to meetings. 

Chart Stands and Cases. — If a number of charts are to be as- 
sembled for use, or if one wishes to be prepared with a portable 
support and not depend upon conditions he may find in his exten- 
sion work, an adjustable metal chart stand should be procured. 
If a simple stand is wanted for use in the school-room, it may be 
made by the pupils (Fig. 187). If it is desired to use the chart 
\vith others, they may be tacked at their tops to a plain wood bar 
as long as the charts are wide and about one inch thick and two 
and a half inches wide. If the charts are to be carried or shipped, 
a carrying. case of strong canvas or carriage cloth. held 1:)y strong 
straps and buckles and provided with a stout handle should be 
purchased or made.* 

Suggestions for Chart Making. — Amateur chart makers usually 
fail of full effectiveness because of a few errors common to nearly 
all beginners. To aid in avoiding them these suggestions are made. 

Plan with great care the subject matter to be charted. Be sure 
it is exactly what you want. Boil it down to an iri'educible mini- 
mum by discarding every word that can be spared. Express the 
idea in words that will be clear and forceful to those for whom it 
is prepared. Be sure it is not capable of misinterpretation. See 
that big ideas stand out and that unimportant details are omitted 
(Fig. 188). Use striking terms, but do not sacrifice soundness for 
sensation. Make chart contents as applicable as possible to local 
conditions. Use local data whenever possible; it is more interesting 
and more convincing than is that from points far away. If graphs 
are used, see that they are simple in form, such as the bar or the line 
whenever possible. See that bases of comparisons are sound. The 
operator should lay off the lines carefully and count the words and 
letters as a sign painter would do. Have the copy carefully printed 
on the typewriter or lettered on paper in much the same style that 
it is to appear on the chart. If symbolism is to be attempted, 
remember that it must be simple, direct, and readily apparent to 

^ Such stands and cases are now in use by the extension departments 
of many State Colleges of Agriculture. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CHART MAKING 341 

meet with effective popular coiiiprehension. Use the cartoon 
sparingly; it is a two-edged sword. 

See that the chart cloth or paper is placed on the board with 
its edges parallel to those of the board. If the straight-edge guide 
is kept parallel to the top of the board and a T-square or triangle 
is used for vertical lines, drawings (Fig. 185), diagrams, and straight 
line graphs may be easily and accurately produced. Measuring 

EDUCATION 



IS THAT TRAINING 

WHICH FITS 
FOR THE DUTIES 



OF LIFE 



Fig. 188. — A few significant words well placed on a chart in clear, large type are more 
effective than many words much crowded. (After P. G. Holden.) 

tapes or calibrations along the vertical edges of the board will 
aid in accurate and rapid measuring. 

When placing on the chart, see that letters, figures and all char- 
acters are large, plain faced, few to the chart, and far apart (Fig. 189). 
Violation of this is almost universal, even by college professors. 
Most home-made charts use letters and figures that are difficult 
to read because of being too small and of having crooks and turns 
and tails and pothooks to the confusion of sight. Plain Gothic 
type is the best. As much is sometimes crowded upon one chart as 
ought to be spread out upon three or four. Note some in figure 190. 



342 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

How can effective teaching be expected from such an abuse of a 
valuable teaching aid? 

Three fundamental facts or principles or directions expressed 




Fig. 189. — These charts have the good qualities of using rectaiigiilai- sui f.-niv, MM-ui;i, i.,,i.^ 
would have been uiore effective), large, simple type, and no crowdiim iS li. ^ . I .'^ I). A.) 




Fig. 190.— Agricultural charts nearly cover the walls in this class-room. ^ (H. L. Joslyn. N. C.) 



in three to five words each on a chart five or six feet square by means 
of letters three inches high will make a lasting impression, while a 
large mass of details on the same subject crowded together in small 
type will be wholly ineffective. The chart is to present only the 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CHART MAKING 343 

outstanding features, the speaker or accompanying literature is 
to furnish the details. 

Leave good margins at the top and the bottom. Do not crowd 
the right and left margins. Have plenty of space between the 

THE PRACTICAL EDUCATION 

TRAINS T HE WHO LE CHILD 
HEAD 

TO THINK 
TO PLAN 
TO REASON 

HEART 

TO BE KIND 

TO BE TRUE 

TO BE SYMPATHETIC 

HANDS 

TO BE USEFUL 
TO BE HELPFUL 
TO BE SKILFUL 

HEALTH 

TO RESIST DISEASE 

TO ENJOY LIFE 

TO MAKE EFFICIENT 

Fig. 191. — See that the subject matter of the chart is well analyzed, tersely stated, and 
effectively arranged. (After P. G. Holden.) 

lines (Fig. 191). Have lines straight, letters erect and properly 
spaced. If graphs are used, see that relative magnitudes are prop- 
erly proportioned. Remember that colmnns or bars of equal 
widths and relative lengths, or parallelograms of equal bases and 
relative heights, are the most easily comprehended by those little 
used to graphic representation. 

Avoid three-dimension magnitudes and comphcated figures. 



344 'rEACHlNG THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

Use simple, strong, outstandinp; lines for drawings. If colors or 
cross hatching are used for different quantities, make them easily 
distinguishable. Make the general execution of the printing and 
illustrating such as would make a first-class job printer proud. 

Freehand drawing, if well done, may add to the usefulness of a 
chart but may add materially to the labor cost (Figs. 192 and 193). 



QUACK GRASS 




Fig. 192. — Freehand drawing is easily executed on a chart by throwing the image on the 
screen from a lantern slide. (After P. G. Holden.) 

Such drawing may be done more successfully and economically by 
projecting on the chart cloth as on a screen the desired figure, using a 
lantern and a slide or opaque projector and then making the drawing 
from the illumination on the chart. If a slide be used, it may be 
necessary to turn the light off for short periods to avoid breaking it. 
Stencils may be obtained commercially from which charts can 
be readily made, especially if the chart material be paper."^ "Pay- 

■'' P. G. Holden, Director Agricultural Extension department. Harvester 
Building, Chicago, 111. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CHART MAKING 



345 



zant," 'Teed Ball" and "Spoonbill" pens and a good quality of 
round or flat showcard brushes are helpful additions to the equip- 
ment if much work is to be done on paper. 

When printing and drawing are finished, go over the whole with 




Fig. 193. — Figures for agricultural charts may often be copied from books, bulletins and 
catalogues. These three are from Lewis's Poultry Keeping. 

a good quality of black wax crayon and retouch any weak spots. 
Then go over crayon work with the fixative, spraying it from a 
small hand sprayer similar to a perfume or medicine atomizer. 
Errors may be obscured by sewing a piece of cloth over them 



346 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

or by applying China white or Chemnitz white, or by applying 
tailors' mending tissue. 

Using the Charts. — Charts frequently may be made to do 
teaching seivice without any person being present to talk about 
them. Charts used for this purpose must be quite complete and 
self-explanatory and should be so disi^la^'od that they are easily 




Fig. 194. — Collect or make pictures showing successive steps in various farm and garden 

operations, such as the six steps here shown for hotbed making. Use the sets of pictures on 

placards for your school room. (Kentucky Station.) 

visible to those for whom they are intended. In using charts 
so arrange them that the class or audience sees only the chart 
upon which the teaching is concentrated at the time. Do not turn 
to a new chart until you have prepared your hearers for what it 
teaches, because as soon as it is exposed their attention will con- 
centrate upon it to the loss of what you may be saying if you are 
talking upon a different topic. Place the charts where they are 
easily seen by all ; care must be taken that those in the rear are 
able to see the bottom of the chart. The presence of charts should 



MAPS 347 

not cause the speaker to omit the use of real objects. The best of 
charts are no substitute for the real thing. Have actual objects 
present when possible. They and the charts will be mutually 
complementary. As on any good class exercise, permit sensible, 
pertinent questions aimed at obtaining information, but do not 
allow your main purpose, which is to teach, to be thwarted by 
indiscriminate or voluminous questioning or by debate and wrang- 
ling. If there be charts in the set that are not applicable or that 
you do not wish to use because of lack of time, it is sometimes well 
to show them with a passing word of explanation rather than to 
appear to be keeping them obscured. Sometimes curiosity regard- 
ing the mysterious unshown chart will prevent concentration upon 
that which you desire them to learn. 

Placards. — There is much use for placards in teaching agricul- 
ture. Cards of various sizes and qualities are used in making them. 
If pictures are to be printed or mounted on the cards, a good color 
for the card is graj^ The cards should be heavy enough not to 
warp badly when pictures are pasted on them (Figs. 194 and 195). 
If a number of placards are to be made for use in the school-room 
and laboratory, it is well to have them uniform in size. A standard 
size of cardboard for this purpose is 22 by 28 inches. 

Printed placards on many subjects may be obtained from the 
various offices of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Teachers 
should obtain many of these and also ask their own state college 
for placards that are useful in teaching. 

Students and teachers should make placards on many agri- 
cultural subjects. Illustrate them with pictures from farm journals, 
bulletins, and catalogues. Have the lettering neat and plain, as 
suggested for the cloth charts. 

Such placards may be stored flat on a large shelf in a store-room 
when not in use. They may be easily provided wdth eyelets for 
hanging on the wall. When desired, such cards may be suspended 
in series or tiers, one card being tied to the bottom of the card 
iibove it. They are thus easily folded together when taken down 
for storage. 

Maps. — The regular political and physical maps belonging to 
the school should be av^ailable for use in agriculture. In addition 
to these, outline maps should be used for many purposes. An out- 
line map of the United States, of the state, and if possible of the 
region, painted upon slated cloth, should be a part of the regular 
agriculture equipment. Areas devoted to certain types of farming, 



348 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 




Fio. 195. — A live teacher will obtain a good supply of instructive pictures and display 

them advantageously. Except on special occasions, they should be well distributed around 

the room. (W. C. Christensen and JS. H. 8., U. S. D. A.) 

certain crops or animals, and the areas in which certain conditions 
of soil or marketing prevail, or certain pests or diseases are preva- 



LANTERNS ^ 349 

lent, and countless other types of information can be illustrated 
on such blackboard maps. Outline paper maps of sufficient size 
for group use may be mounted upon pulp board and colored tacks 
used for the location of specified items of interest. 

Small outline maps for the use of individual pupils may be 
used to recoi'd in graphic form some of the most interesting agri- 
cultural truths which will be better understood and more success- 
fully remembered because of the pupil having thus worked out 
the truth on a geographic basis. All available maps of local, state, 
and regional agriculture, such as those relating to soils, animals, 
crops, and rural sm'veys, should be obtained. Enlargements of 
important census maps relating to agricultural topics of local 
interest may be worth making. This would not be difficult if a 
slide were first made and this projected as suggested in the making 
of charts. If there is a soil survey map of the state, it should be at 
hand at all times. 

Lanterns. — In the chapter on equipment the owning of stere- 
opticons and slides was advocated. There are a half dozen good 
makes of stereopticon lanterns on the market each with its strong 
points.'' If the school does not own one, the teacher of agriculture 
should learn what sources of illumination are available not only 
in the school building but at the many points in the community 
where he will probably want to use the lantern, such as rural 
schools, farmers' club halls, stock pavilions, rural churches, fair 
buildings, and similar places. He can then choose the lantern best 
adapted to his needs in that regard. He must also know the ap- 
proximate focal distance it will be possible to obtain in these various 
places and see that the lenses in the machine to be bought can be 
adapted to those distances without too small or too large an image 
or too slight definition. If he decides upon a machine that uses 
electricity, he must know whether his available current is direct 
or alternating and of what phase and voltage. If the places in 
which he expects to use it are not of uniform current, he must know 
whether he can obtain a rheostat or transformmg device that will 
permit his using the same lantern on all circuits. Some lanterns 
can be furnished with an equipment for electricity and also one 
for gas. He will then need to decide whether his source of illumina- 
tion, if electric, is to be of the arc or the incandescent type. The 
possibility of using a magneto light or storage light from an auto- 
mobile, or of using a portable generator, should also be considered. 

^ To obtain list, see Appendix, p. 416. 



350 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

So great have been the improvements in the incandescent 
bulbs that for ordinary use bulbs sufficiently powerful can be ob- 
tained, thus avoiding the many annoyances, such as noise and 
irregularity of feeding, which frequently mark the arc light. These 
bulbs may be obtained in 6, 12, 32, 90, 110, and 220 voltages. 
They need no resistance or controlling device and may be used 
interchangeably on alternating or direct current. 

Ease of portability and ease, simplicity, and rapidity of setting 
up are important features, especially if much extension work is to 
be done. Range, accuracy, and ease of adjustment are other fea- 
tures that need attention. For many years the slide carriers 
were practically uniform in all machines. Recently some have 
added greatly improved slide handlers which when perfected 
promise much more convenient and effective operation. Such 
an improvement should be given due consideration in the; 
selection of a machine, but before they are purchased care 
should be taken that such devices have been sufficiently per- 
fected to be practical. 

The Screen. — For the agriculture room a coated screen of suf- 
ficient size and of as good material as the funds available permit 
should be hung upon a spring roller at the front of the room. This 
spring roller and screen should be boxed in to keep them free 
from dust and dirt. Although a very good image can be produced 
upon a blank light-colored wall, it is well to have a portable screen 
of good muslin, or better sateen, to take to places where nothing 
else is available. It may be necessary to have some ropes and 
simple pulleys to make the use of this more effective in some 
places. Wrinkles and creases in this cloth should be avoided as 
far as possible. 

Slides. — The lantern slide has made a place for itself not only in 
entertaining but also in teaching. With the simplifying of stereop- 
ticon lanterns so any teacher or careful pupil of high school age 
or even younger can operate them, with improvements in illumi- 
nants and their accessibility, and with the great increase in the 
number and quality of slides adapted to educational uses, the 
lantern has become almost universal in high schools and even in 
elementary schools. Like charts, they are especially adapted to 
group teaching, which is the almost universal system in use in 
this country. The teacher of agriculture can utilize them to very 
great advantage, and the supply of agriculture slides is rapidly 
on the increase. 



TAKING PICTURES FOR SLIDES 351 

Obtaining Slides. — Commercial dealers in slides are numerous.'' 
The Forest Service and the States Relations Service of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Education of the 
United States, the Agricultural Education or Agricultural Exten- 
sion Departments of the various State Agricultural Colleges, and 
nmnerous commercial organizations have free slide service. Many 
private firms have special sets for loan or sale. Many of the com- 
mercial slide manufacturers will make to order any slides desired 
from negatives or photographs furnished them. 

In addition to all these sources of supply many teachers make 
their own slides. With all of these opportunities, every agriculture 
teacher should find it possible to have sets of slides suitable for 
use in his classes. While the loaning and renting facilities available 
should be utilized to the best advantage, every agriculture depart- 
ment should gradually assemble by purchase superior slides cover- 
ing the subjects most essential in his school work and community 
service. These slides should represent the most fundamental and 
important features of agricultural work and should be the best 
obtainable. To avoid burdening his slide cabinet with second-rate 
or irrelevant slides, he should purchase with the privilege of return- 
ing any not desired. By keeping a list of subjects which he desires 
to add to his supply he can select with care and see that the money 
spent is wisely distributed over the different topics taught. Be- 
sides the small choice selection of slides owned by the school, much 
use should be made of the constantly enlarging opportunities being 
offered for obtaining those offered for loan or hire. 

Taking Pictures for Slides. — ^Some of the slides should be of 
local subjects or data which the teacher provides. If he has a 
camera and can operate it well, he should take these pictures him- 
self. If not, he may engage the services of a local photographer. 
In either case he should see that the composition of the picture 
(what it contains and how the contents are arranged) is such that 
the teaching value for the purpose desired is fully brought out. 
Unnecessary objects that would distract the attention should be 
omitted and the others so placed and posed as to make plain the 
things desired. If relative magnitudes are to be made clear, some 
object whose dimensions are commonly known should be so placed 
as to make comparison easy and correct. Backgrounds should be 
chosen that will bring out in strong relief the contents of the pic- 
ture. Careful study must be made of lights and shadows if clear 

^ See Appendix. '' 



352 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 



and truthful effects are to be achieved. Especiahy in the use of 
small cameras with limited focal adjustment care must be taken 
to avoid perspective distortion. Particularly in photographing 
animals, efforts must be made to avoid this distortion. Informality 
and naturalness, especially where processes are shown or groups 
depicted (Figs. 196 and 197), give the results greater teaching value. 
It is well if the agriculture teacher is able to develop his nega- 
tives and print his pictures. But with the multitude of other duties 
required of him, in most cases after having seen that the negative 
is properly made he may better have the developing and printing 




I'll.. J'Jii. Xlw Ihuiipsliiic boys linisliiuK a bridge graft on the trunk of an injurod fruit 
tree. In taking pictures for school use or for lantern slides the students should be giving 
attention to their work as in the left view — not looking at the camera as in the other view. 

(R. A. Mooney.) 

done by a regular photographer, if one is available. They will cost 
only a few cents each. These can be matted, covered, and bountl 
by the instructor or students at the school. In case the photo- 
graphs are so large as to require reducing to the lantern slide size, 
indicate on each photograph, by marks on the margin, the part 
which you wish to include in the slide. Data, pictures, diagrams, 
and similar materials found in books, bulletins or charts and maps 
which it is desirable to use in slide form may be photographed 
and thus made available. 

Teaching Pupils to Take Pictures. — With the presence of a 
camera in so many homes it may be well to instruct the pupils of 
the agriculture classes in the fundamentals of proper picture taking 
especially as it relates to obtaining satisfactory farm views (Fig. 



TEACHING PUPILS TO TAIvE PICTURES 



353 



198). A competitive exhibit of pictures composed and taken by 
the members of the class, with awards by competent judges, will 
add zest to their endeavors. In the judging, the instructional 
value of the picture should be given consideration as well as its 
artistic merits. The use of some of the best pictures in the agri- 
cultural journals and in the local newspaper, with proper credit 
to the pupil and the school, will not only increase the interest in 




Fig. 107. — It is well to make slides showing the steps in doing things, as in treating hogs for 

cholera. Four steps in a demonstration of the inoculation of pigs to prevent cholera. 1, the 

antiseptics; 2, the serum and virus; 3, the syringe and hypodermic needle; 4, injections into 

the pig. (R. V. Morrison.) 

the picture-taking work of the school, but also in the agricultural 
work and in the local agriculture. The growing use of photographs 
in advertising farm products and in illustrating agricultural litera- 
ture will justify spending a little time on instructing the pupils in 
the simplest and most essential feature of picture taking. Many 
of the pictures taken by the pupils will make satisfactory slides 
and will not only save the time of the teacher of agriculture but 
will supply views of local agriculture that he would be unable to 
obtain if he were to depend upon taking them himself. Pamphlets 
23 



354 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

upon photography should be in the hbrary, especially if the pupils 
are to be given instruction in farm photography. 

Making Slides. — To be able to make slides from his own neg- 
atives or photogiaphs is a dcsirat)le capability for the agriculture 
teacher to possess, but to use his time in doing so when it can be 




Fio. IBS. — Take pictures of spvernl sli |i- ni ill i 
school to show development, or make hmlii n .-^IhIi 



iij,'c tlicsi- nil placards in the 
bust. (C U. Ransom, Okla.) 



used to better advantage in some other way is undesirable. To 
see that pictures are properly taken and the slides properly used 
when made will be a far better use of his skill as a teacher. The 
district money will be most wisely spent if paid to regular com- 
mercial slide makers for making slides and to the agriculture 
instructor for devoting himself to his many responsibilities as a 
teacher and a community counselor. However, if the school is 
equipped for it, the teacher may occasionally make a few slides 



OPAQUE PROJECTION PICTURES 



355 



in an emergency when lack of time mil not permit him to obtain 
them through commercial channels. Detailed instructions for 
making slides may be obtained from library sources.^ A sheet 
of gelatine on which desirable data have been written or typed 
placed between glass plates; a piece of ground glass upon which 
the data have been written with ink; plain glass treated with a 
one-to-twenty solution of Canada balsam in xylene and written 
on with ink — all furnish means 
for the teacher to prepare slides 
without the usual photographic 
processes.^ 

Improvements are rapidly 
being made in slides to reduce 
the weight and decrease the 
breakage. The library should 
be a .subscriber to a good 
magazine so the agriculture 
department can keep informed 
of such improvements and see 
that the school avails itself 
of them.io 

Opaque Projection Pictures. 
— Any school provided with a 
good opaque projector and 
sufficient light to use it well, 
should select large numbers of 
pictures of suitable size for use 
with the machine. These should 
be mounted on small cards. 
Usually postcards and pictures 
cut from bulletins, magazines, 
and catalogues will be found 
useful for this purpose. Those on light paper may be mounted 
on thin cardboards of uniform size to suit filing cabinets. They 
may be arranged as suggested for lantern slides. 

8 See " Lantern Slides — How to Make Them," Eastman Kodak Co., Roches- 
ter, N. Y., and brief article taken therefrom in Educational Film Magazine, 
Vol. I, No. 5, May, 1919, and Vol. II, Nos. 1 and 2, July and August, 1919. 
See also Appendix. 

5 See circular on "Use of Illustrative Material in the Teaching of Agri- 
culture," States Relation Service, U. S. D. A., Washington, D. C. 

10 For Ust, see References, end of this chapter. 




Fig. 199. — Revolving lantern slide transpar- 
ency. Six faces, 7 slides high, 2 slides wide; 
top of one side removed to show structure. 
Improved by a light hanging inside. 
(Geo. A. Dean, Kans.) 



356 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

Stereographs. — The stereoscope and the more effective stereo- 
graphs with their binocular arrangement for still pictures are 
valuable for individual use when suitable subjects are obtainable, 
but are not well adapted to group instruction during the class 
meeting unless there are enough instrmnents and views to supply 
the entire class, and even then the distribution and collection is 
time consuming and distractive of attention. For use during the 
study period they have a distinct value. 

Moving Pictures. — The use of the moving picture as a means of 
teaching is rapidly gaining ground. As a means of entertainment 
it has already achieved a success that is nothing short of marvelous, 
but its progress as a means of actual school-room education has been 
less rapid and less satisfactory. In that field it is still struggling 
with some obstacles, but its possibilities are so great that there is no 
question about these obstacles being removed in due time. The 
expense of the projecting machines is being reduced by the manu- 
facturing of smaller and less costly models. The expense of films is 
being lessened by more economical methods of manufacture. The 
lack of suitable films is being slowly overcome by the cooperation of 
teachers and producers in the making of films that are actually and 
not just ostensibly educational. The inefficiency of educational 
fihn service is being overcome by the development of cooperation 
among schools, colleges, and commercial film organizations. 

In bringing about these changes, teachers in schools and colleges 
must take an active part, if the pupils are to receive the benefits 
to which they are entitled, from this highly potential source of 
aid to education. No longer must the educational film be acci- 
dental and fragmentary. The content of the curriculum must be 
organized into units capable of being filmed, these units must be 
arranged into pedagogic sequences, and the filming must be done 
with due regard to the psychology of the learning processes. 
America, which has produced the best textbooks in the world, must 
now produce the best educational films in the world. The general 
public demand, through the movie theater, Avill cause commercial 
firms to supply the fiction film as the same public demand has pro- 
duced the fiction book, but the purposive efforts of teachers will be 
as necessary in the production of the text film as they have been in 
the perfecting of the textbook. Agriculture, dealing as it does with 
processes of applying science to the art of farming, furnishes an 
opportunity for using the moving picture to the greatest advantage. 

When suitable films are obtainable through an efficient service 



THE MOVING PICTURE PROJECTOR 



357 



at a reasonable expense the moving picture will be a valuable aid 
in agricultural teaching. With the darkened room every obstacle 
to the concentration of attention is removed and the constant 
motion serves to keep the attention from wandering. Its vivid 
portrayal especially of processes and operations impossible in still 
projection or illustration adds to its teaching value. Showing 
actual conditions is a great saving of time over describing them, as 
would be necessary in talking or reading. The use of the moving 
picture will not supplant textbooks, libraries, laboratories, and 




Fig. 200. — Suitable copy for school-room chart of dairy cow. (After M. J. Abbey.) 

teachers but will improve upon the quality of their work in some 
features and will partly free them for better attention to those 
other features wherein the moving picture is less efficient. 

The Moving Picture Projector. — The machine should be bought 
with school funds as is any other item of equipment for the class- 
room, the laboratory, or the library. If this cannot be done, paying 
for it through admission fees is permissible, but that forces the 
use of the machine, to some extent at least, as a mere entertainer 
when it ought to be recognized as a regular teaching apparatus 
with entertainment as a possible incident, if it is to play its proper 
part in the class-room. Some firms arrange to rent machines to 
schools, but that is a makeshift which the school authorities would 
not think of resorting to with blackboards, desks, or seats. Many 



358 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

schools are equipping with projectors as a regular part of their 
apparatus, apparently considering them to be as necessary as maps, 
globes, and library books. 

In choosing the machine attention must be paid to whether 
it is to be the standard theater type or the portable type, the source 
and character of electric current, and the distance through which it 
is to project. Most portable machines are intended to operate 
from a common electric light socket, and to project short distances 
using a Mazda incandescent lamp of about 250 to 400 watts. If 
a 600-watt light be used, the projection distance can be increased. 
Higher power Mazda lamps are made, but they require a stronger 
current. For the greater projection distances the arc lamp is 
required. If the machine is not to be moved from place to place, 
a permanently installed professional pi'ojector is more satisfactory. 
Until such time as standard films are made of non-inflammable 
materials it will be necessary to have such a machine placed in a 
fireproof booth, constructed to meet the insurance regulations and 
local legal requirements. This booth should be kept clear of 
unnecessary articles, especially those that are combustible, be 
painted black, and have all its openings so arranged that they close 
automatically if fire starts in the booth. 

For portable use in places where there is an ordinary electric 
lighting system there are several machines of suitcase style that 
are complete and convenient. Where no current is available it 
can be provided by fixing a small electric lighting outfit upon a 
small truck or automobile. By this means motion pictures can 
be shown in a country school house or any other place even though 
no electric current is regularly installed there. 

Some of the agricultural colleges are instituting courses in visual 
instruction through which prospective teachers are prepared, among 
other things, to operate stereopticons, opaque projectors, moving 
picture machines and other projection apparatus. Those who have 
not had the advantages of such instruction can obtain the funda- 
mentals necessary by attending a short course at some central point 
or through the assistance of a local operator. It will be well to have 
one of the two or three good reference books that are on the market. 

Obtaining and Using Films. — Films may be obtained by rental 
from the educational film exchanges, by loan from colleges of agri- 
culture and the United States Department of Agriculture. In 
some states ^^ a state cooperative film service is maintained. Many 

11 E.g., North Carolina. 



USING THE FILM 



359 



manufacturing firms loan films illustrating their processes. ^'^ Some 
of the livestock registry associations have films of their breeds 
which they loan to schools and colleges. ^^ 

In using the film the teacher should emphasize the teaching pro- 
cesses. Pupils should know what the film is intended to teach. An 
assigmnent should be made upon which the pupils prepare by using 
texts and references. Questions may be propounded to raise in 
their minds the •problems which the film is to aid them in solving. 
The film and an abstract of its teachings should be familiar to the 
teacher before he makes the assignment to the pupils. The sub- 
titles of the film should raise further questions in the minds of the 
})upils which the films may answer. Explanations through dia- 
grammatic illustrations and proper labels should be used in the 
film to aid the pupils to a clear understanding. Much effective 




Fig. 201. — Drawings such as this may be made upon charts and thus be available for use 
many times. (School and Home Gardening.) 

teaching can be done in agriculture by the use of films. I^and 
clearing, the operation of farm machines, types and breeds of 
animals, construction work, and especially the various drill oper- 
ations to obtain farm skill offer unsurpassed opportunities for the 
successful use of the moving picture in agricultural teaching. By 
means of special equipment, which makes possible slow motion 
pictures, the motions in the various farm skills may be filmed and 
when projected slowly upon the screen make it possible to analyze 
them into their constituent movements, which may then be 
synthesized in actual pi-actice and an improvement be made 
in the prevailing process if that be not the best. Spading, hoe- 
ing, raking, milking, grooming, harnessing, hitching, training, 
drenching, shoeing, caponizing, irrigating, tilling, stacking, spray- 
ing, adjusting machinery, and numberless other farm skills can 

1^ See Appendix. 

" For list of associations, send to your state supervisor of agriculture for 
revised addresses. (Also see Appendix.) 



360 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

thus be taught properly and after proper drill supplant less 
effective methods. 

Pupils should be held as responsible afterwards Tor active and 
accurate thinking during this teaching process as they would be in 
any other. The illusion that because learning through the film and 
screen is easy it is to be a passive procedm'e on the part of the pupil 



5LIDE DOOR 



SPACE FOR Wagon i , 
^ nowtn. Binder and 

D>&C Harrow || Open Space 




DOueiE DOORS 



Space for Bu<i&v 

AND AuTOMOBiuE 



MANURE SPREADER 



\ j~|^*"^^ 



Vri I 



Work5mop 



WOSK BtNCM 



..1 



12' 



, SLIDE. Doei^ 
-»44 9 -O' »*•- 



3^-o\ 



12 '-6 



Fig. 202. — Make a chart of the ground-floor plan of a good machine shed, giving room for 
winter repair work and painting. A shed for the storing of machinery is a valuable asset on 
every farm. When properly cared for and well housed the life of machinery is con.siderably 
lengthened. It is said that more farm machinery rusts out than wears out. Proper storage 

prevents rusting out. 



must be dispelled early if the greatest value is to be obtained from 
the lantern and the moving picture as educational adjuncts. 

Filing and Storing. — ^ Visual instruction materials should be very 
carefully filed and stored if they are to be ready when wanted and 
are to be preserved for long use. A record should be kept of all 
charts, maps, photograj^hs, views, slides, and films based upon the 
library filing system in use in that school. Card indexes properly 
numbered with the same numbers on the articles should be em- 



FILING AND STORING 



361 



ployed. Charts and large maps should be neatly rolled or sus- 
pended at full length in a space where they will be free from dirt 
and injury. Small maps, photographs and views should be in 
vertical filing cases or in pasteboard boxes according to the system 
in use locally. These should be properly numbered and labeled 
so they can be found readily. 

Films should be kept in a cool place slightly moist, and if inflam- 
mable, in metal containers in a fireproof storage space. 

Slides may be kept in a regular slide cabinet with drawers con- 




FiG. 203. — Plan of a simple hot and cold water system where the supply is to be pumped 
as needed. Make a chart like this for your shop-room. (After Cornell Countryman.) 

taining separate slots for individual slides. If the slides are given 
a file number corresponding to the system in use, this number can 
be placed on the side of the drawer opposite the proper slide space. 
Each drawer can show on the outside the number Umits of the 
shdes therein. Or if they are arranged in topical groups, as orchard- 
ing, gardening, etc., these topics may be on the drawer labels. 
Slides may also be filed in a regular vertical filing drawer with a 
suitable follow-up block and a reference system by means of which 
any slide may be found easily. 



362 TEACHING THROUGH CHARTS, SLIDES, AND FILMS 

Storing Slides in Visible Form. — Where many slides are owned 
by one school they may be arranged in large panels which slide 
into and out of a cabinet and which are quickly visible to the eye. 
These panels may contain from fifty to one hundred sUdes each and 
are quickly drawn out to be examined by any one planning a lesson 
or lecture. The cabinet containing these panels should be near a 
window so that the operator may look through^them toward the light. 
A translucent screen may be used, if desired, between the hght and 
the picture, thus enabling the operator to see the details'more clearly, 
perhaps recognizing the slide more quickly. The arrangement of 
slides by the panel system may be either topical or numerical. 

A revolving slide holder, such as that shown in figure 199, is 
useful at all times in showng slides to students and visitors. 
From it slides can be quickly selected for use in lectures. 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. Find the price of slated cloth blackboards of different sizes and where 
they can be obtained. What size is best adapted to your school? 

2. AVhere in your vicinity can "glued up" chart boards be obtained? 
What will one cost that is 5 x 5 feet? 

3. Draw a sketch of a frame that would support a chart board firmly 
against the wall; an easel that would support it; a movable frame on rollers. 

4. Prepare the exact wording and arrangement you would use for a chart 
on improving the dairy herd or a similar topic of your own selection. 

5. Discuss charts you can obtain as to wording, arrangement, spacing, 
style of type, graphs, forcefulness, clearness, and general appearance. Sug- 
gest improvements. 

6. What are the objections to three-dimension graphs? To comparison 
by circles? Pyramids? 

7. Make a chart on each of the subjects sliown in Figs. 200, 201, 202, 
and 203. 

8. Why not expose your most important chart to the audience while it 
is assembling? 

9. In talking from charts how would you dispose of irrelevant questions? 
Impertinent ones? 

10. Compare different samples of colored paper obtainable as to their 
values for chart use. 

11. Find where slated cloth outline maps can be obtained most economic- 
ally; also small paper outUne maps of the United States and of your state. 

12. Compare five different types of lanterns as to (a) iUuminants; (6) 
portabihty; (c) convenience of setting up; (d) ease of operation; (e) adjusta- 
bility; (/) sUde shifting; (g) quaHty of illumination (when possible); (h) lenses. 

13. Make a list of practical, portable stereopticons for the high school 
department of agriculture, with types of illuminants and cost of each. 

14. Prepare a list of the names and addresses of dealers in stereopticon 
slides. 

15. Make a list of stereoscopic views practicable to have as a part of the 
agriculture equipment. 

16. Make a list of subjects of twenty slides you would like to have to 
illustrate a certain topic chosen by yourself. 



REFERENCES 363 

17. State the advantages and disadvantages of glass plates for taking 
agricultural photographs; of fihns. 

18. Make a Ust of motion picture machines using standard films; of those 
using special non-inflammable fihns and the names and addresses of dealers. 

19. Obtain agricultural pictures and criticize them from the standpoint 
of teaching value. 

20. Select five pictures, tables, or diagrams found in books or bulletins 
you would recommend to be made into shdes. Give reasons. 

21. Does your local paper use many cuts of Igcal agricultural subjects? 
Could it use more to advantage? If so, find out the reason for not doing so. 

22. Describe the latest improvements in slides to reduce weight and 
breakage. 

23. Practice writing on a ground-glass shde until you can obtain a neat, 
clear result. 

24. Practice with the gelatine sheet in the same manner. 

25. Try the same upon a balsam-treated plain glass. 

26. Obtain the names and addresses of educational film exchanges. 

27. Prepare a list of five educational films adapted to the class in agricul- 
ture and state when you would introduce each into the class work. 

28. What are the best types of incandescent lamps now available for use 
in lanterns? In motion projectors? 

29. What current is available in your school? What lanterns and motion 
projectors can be adapted to it? How? 

30. Are there any individual electric lighting plants in residences near 
your school? What kind? How much of such a plant would need to be trans- 
ported to a place not having electric Ughts to operate a lantern or motion 
projector? 

31. Does the Agricultural College of your state maintain a slide-loaning 
service? A film-loaning service? 

32. What are some of ths weaknesses of teaching by slides? By moving 
pictures? 

33. Make a sketch of a cabinet suitable for holding medium-size maps, 
charts, and blue prints. What would it cost if made locally? 

34. Are the photographs in your school so filed that they are well pre- 
served and quickly obtainable? Do you think the system could be improved? 
If so, how? 

35. Write to your State Agricultural College and see if plans have been 
made or are soon to be made for a state or inter-state exchange of lantern 
shdes or films. When an exchange is started, join it if you can. 

REFERENCES 

"The Moving Picture Age." 

"The Educational Fihn Magazine." 

"Visual Education Magazine," Chicago. 

"A, B, C of Exhibit Planning," Evartz G. and Mary Swain Routzahn. 

Coleman, G. A.: M. P. in Educ. Jr. Ec. Entom. 10 : 371, 373, June, 1917. 

"Use of Illustrative Material in Teaching Agriculture in Rural Schools," 

U. S. D. A. Year Book, 1905. 
"Motion Pictures an Aid to Education," Vol. 1, U. S. Bur. Ed., 1910, 587-597. 
American Assn. of Col. and Exp. Stations, Bui. O. E. S. 49, 1897. 
Classification Scheme for Pictures and Lantern Shdes, N. Y. State Dept. of 

Education. 
"Use of Illustrative Material in Teaching of Agriculture," U. S. D. A. 
"List of Fihns and Their Uses," U. S. D. A. 
Leake: "Means and Methods in Agricultural Education," Houghton-Mifflin. 



CHAPTER XVII 
HOW TO ORGANIZE AN AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 

Importance of the Library. — The last quarter of a century has 
seen discovered and made available more scientific truth about 
agriculture than was ever known in all the preceding ages of man. 
No person can hope to get the most out of farming who is not 
acquainted with the best and most usable of this body of scientific 
agricultural truth. The teaching of agriculture contemplates not 
only that what is taught shall be practically sound but also that 
it shall be scientifically correct. While vocational agriculture must 
see that the pupil follows the best farm practices in his practical 
work, that is not enough. It must give him an understanding of 
the scientific bases for those practices and also give such a knowl- 
edge of the fundamental truths and principles of scientific agri- 
culture and their relationships as to enable him to adapt them to 
varying conditions. 

In the project system of teaching, every step in his practical 
work must be carefully determined after most thorough and 
thoughtful consideration has been given not only to the practical 
conditions which surround him but also to what the best scientific 
authorities say about that particular type of agricultural enter- 
prise and those particular limiting conditions. These authorities 
must be found in the agricultural library of the school. 

Even if each pupil owns a copy of the text used in the class 
work there will be need for the school library to furnish a large 
supply of other reference materials, because even the best text 
gives all too meager a treatment of any subject to be sufficient 
for practical purposes. Books, bulletins, papers, periodicals, special 
documents, reports, year books, circulars, catalogues, maps, charts, 
pictures, and many other forms of publications are needed to 
enable the pupil to obtain a thorough understanding of the subject 
and to prepare him for successfully practicing the farming opera- 
tion involved. 

What to Select. — There is almost no limit to the supply of gootl 
material available for the agricultural library. The two limiting 
factors are the demand of the curriculum to be taught and the 
supply of funds with which to purchase. With these in mind the 
teacher should discriminate carefully, in order that the money 
364 



BOOKS 365 

available each year will add to the library the reference most valu- 
able for the work to be done by that school. He must first go 
carefully through his curriculum and determine upon what phases 
of agriculture which are to he taught the current year additional 
reference material will be needed. He should then study carefully 
the available references for those particular phases, arrange them 
in the order of their serviceability and procure as many of them 
as the funds properly allotted to the different phases will permit. 
He should endeavor to obtain a few superior references for each 
important topic to be studied rather than many for one topic 
and none for others. 

The largest amount of reference materials should be that which 
is adapted to the capabilities of the majority of the pupils to be 
taught. In addition to this there should be a small amount 
especially adapted to the teacher's use even though some were 
too technical for the pupils to understand. It is also advisable 
to have a small amount dealing in a popular and less technical 
manner with some of the affairs of the farm to use in arousing the 
interest of some of the less advanced farmers. 

While most of the agricultural library material should be de- 
voted to the study of farming it ought to contain a fair amount of 
choice material dealing with life on the farm. ''The Fat of the 
Land," ''From Sunup to Sundown," "Adventures in Content- 
ment," "John, the Book Farmer," "The Fairview Idea," "The 
Brown Mouse," "Hidden Treasure," "Three Acres and Liberty," 
"Ten Acres Enough," " George Washington, Farmer," "The Soil," 
and similar stories of farm life and activities ordinarily placed on 
the fiction shelves may well be placed in the agriculture library, 
where they will attract the attention of the pupils studying 
agriculture, and their plans and procedure be subjected to class 
consideration and perhaps discussion. 

In like manner some of the finest farm literature should be 
found in the agriculture library. The volumes of James Whit- 
comb Riley, the poems of Will Carleton, Liberty Hyde Bailey, 
Bryan, Sam Walter Foss, and others, and the several anthologies 
of farm prose and poetry are good examples. If agriculture is to 
do what it ought for the individual and for society, not only profit 
but also pleasure must be found in farming. 

Books. — In addition to the one or more textbooks chosen for 
class use (and where they are pm'chased by the school there should 
be sets of several different texts) there should be a number of well- 



366 HOW TO ORGANIZE AN AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 

selected books to which pupils may refer for more ample treatment 
of a subject than may be found in the text. Unless the school 
buys sets of different texts for class use, a few of the reference books 
may be of about the grade of the text used by the pupil. Several 
copies of each of the best should be available. 

Others should be good college texts and other books devoted 
to special features of agriculture. In addition to these there should 
be one or more good cyclopedias, such as Bailey's Cyclopedia 
of Agriculture. 

Bulletins. — -Schools should supply for the use of agriculture 
classes the farmers' bulletins of the United States Department 
of Agriculture, those of the State College of Agriculture and Expcri- 




FiG. 204. — The supervised study of the week's farm journals, Easley High School, South 
Carolina. (L. M. Banknight.) 

ment Station, and such additional desirable ones as can be obtained 
from other states whose agricultural practices are applicable to 
the local school region. Schools should also supply suitable cases 
in which to file all bulletins, properly labeled, and shelves or 
drawers in which the files may be placed in an orderly manner 
easily accessible for daily use. 

Periodicals. — Schools should subscribe for a few of the best 
agricultural periodicals of local and national importance and pro- 
vide suitable filing facilities so they may be available for class work 
and also for casual perusal of individual pupils (Figs. 204, 205, 
and 206). These are of greater educational value than much of 
the expensive equipment frequently found reposing in some dusty 
cupboard unused because it has too little relation to real life in 
that locality. If the school has a live agricultural teacher and 
pupils who are interested in farm life, the agricultural journals 
will contribute to the school work far more than their cost. 



ADDITIONAL REFERENCES 



367 



In addition to the general agricultural papers, those published 
in the interests of a particular breed of stock or a particular crop 
should be obtained when the local interest is sufficient to warrant. 



Fig. 205 




Fig. 20.5. — The individual style of reading tal)le on wliiih to keep and use magazines. 

(Stanley High School, Wis.) 
Fig. 206. — Large magazine table with compartments for agricultural journals. (Jas. T. 

Lovell, Tenn.) 

Additional References. — ^The Annual Year Book and Annual 
Reports of the United States Department of Agriculture, the 



368 HOW TO ORGANIZE AN AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 

Annual Reports of the Bureaus of Soils, and Animal Industry and 
States Relation Service, the Experiment Station Record, and the 
Crop Rei:)orter of the Bureau of Markets, all from the United States 
Department of Agriculture, should be in the library. The Monthly 
List of Publications from the same source should be asked for by 
each pupil in the class so he can keep informed of what is available 
in the particular subject upon which he is working. 

The library should be on the list of the United States Bureau 
of Education for all current publications, particularly for "School 
Life, " a monthly devoted to school activities, including agriculture. 

The publications of the Board of Agriculture of your state, 
especially all reports and the year book, should be obtained for 
past years and should be kept up to date by the addition of new 
numbers as they are published. If similar reports, year books and 
other official publications of the agricultural boards of nearby 
states can be obtained, they will make valuable additions. 

Each school library should have all the non-technical and some 
of the technical bulletins published by the experiment station and 
the extension department of its own state and such of those of 
the other states having the same type of agriculture as can be 
readily obtained. 

All bulletins and reports of the Federal Board for Vocational 
Education, Washington, D. C, and of the Board for Vocational 
Education in your state, as well as the bulletins, reports, and other 
publications of the state officers in charge of vocational education 
in your state so far as they relate to agriculture should be included. 
The school should be maintained on the mailing list of the Voca- 
tional Summary, a monthly, issued by the Federal Board. In 
many states the Department of Agricultural Education of the 
State University or State College of Agriculture issues bulletins, 
news letters, and other pul)lications that will be of interest to 
the classes in agriculture. The various pul)lications issued by 
the boys and gii-ls' club leaders, the county farm bureaus, and by 
the Boys' Working Reserve contain much of interest. 

Suggestive lists of library material suitable for a specific school 
can usually be obtained from the State Supervisor of Vocational 
Agriculture or the head of the department of agricultural educa- 
tion in the State College of Agriculture or University. Every 
teacher before selecting his library should obtain such lists and also 
the latest ones issued by the Agricultural Instruction Division of 
the States Relation Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, the 



CLASSIFYING 369 

U. S. Bureau of Education, and the Federal Board for Voca- 
tional Education. 

Other Materials. — Besides the sources mentioned under "bul- 
letins," various other institutions and organizations have materials 
to contribute to the reference resources of schools teaching agri- 
culture. Printed material and pictures issued, sometimes free, by- 
crop associations, livestock associations, commercial organizations 
handling agricultural equipment or supplies, and manufacturing 
and business organizations are frequently of genuine value and 
can often be used to advantage. Some discrimination must be 
exercised to prevent the insidious influence of unwarranted adver- 
tising creeping into the school. 

Classifying. — If the library reference material is to be available 
for prompt and convenient use, it must be systematically arranged. 
The system used must be understood by those who use the library 
and each book, pamphlet, or other reference must have a defi- 
nite place in relation to the others and must always be found 
there when not out for use. To accomplish this there must 
be a definite system of classification and a filing plan which 
corresponds to it. 

The Dewey decimal system of classification is the one almost 
universally used in public libraries and the better school libraries 
of the United States. Superior as this system is in most sub- 
jects, agricultm-al science and the literature relative thereto 
have grown to such enormous proportions and have developed 
to such a high degree of differentiation that the original Dewey 
classification is recognized by librarians dealing with agriculture 
as entirely inadequate. Because of this, many attempts have 
been made to supply the need. Mrs. F. H. Ridgeway of Berea 
College published one ^ based on the Dewey system which is well 
adapted to the classification of agricultural books in a library of 
good size. 

G. A. Deveneau, University of Illinois, developed one some- 
what more brief based upon a decimal system but not using the 
Dewey basis of 630 for agriculture.^ C. H. Lane, Director for 
Agricultural Education on the Staff of the Federal Board for 
Vocational Education, suggested a system which wholly aban- 
doned both the decimal and alphabetic bases.^ H. B. Fuller of 

1 Library Journal, Vol. 38, No. 10, Oct., 1913. 

2 See "The Teaching of Agriculture," Nolan. 

^ Federal Board for Vocational Education Bulletin No. 14, June, 1918. 
24 



370 HOW TO ORGANIZE AN AGR1CULTURJ^L LIBRARY 



the United States Department of Agriculture prepared a system * 
which is practically decimal, but does not adhere to the ten-unit 
basis. Carefully considering all these and others, the faculty of 
the Division of Agricultural Education, University of Minnesota, 
produced the following: 

Classification of Books and Bulletins for Agricultural Libraries. 



630 General: 

0.1 Agricultural education. 

.11 Organization and adminis- 
tration. 
.12 Management. 
.121 General. 
.122 Class. 
.13 Supervision. 
.14 Methods. 
.15 Visual instruction. 
.16 Graphic representation. 
.17 Research. 
.18 Extension. 
.19 Miscellaneous. 
.191 Buildings. 
.192 Equipment. 
.193 Supplies. 
0.2 Experiment station reports, etc. 
0.3 Extension reports and general 

publications. 
0.4 Collegiate education. 
0..5 Short courses. 
0.6 School of Agriculture. 
0.7 Technology and sciences allied to 

agricultural subjects. 
0.8 Dictionaries, cyclopedias, etc. 
0.9 Miscellaneous. 

631 Soils: 

1.1 Soil surveys. 

1.2 Soil physics. 

1.3 Soil chemistry. 

1.4 Soil tillage. 

1.5 Cropping systems, crop rotations. 

1.6 Soil moisture. 

1.7 Manures and fertilizers. 
l.N Soil bacteriology. 

1.9 Miscellaneous. 

632 Field Crops: 

2.1 Cereals. 

2.11 Wheat. 

2.12 Barley. 

2.13 Oats. 

2.14 Rye. 

2.15 Corn. 

2.16 Emmer and speltz. 

2.17 Grain sorghums — kafir, 

milo, and durra. 

2.18 Rice. 

2.19 Miscellaneous. 

2.2 Legumes. 

^ 2.21 Alfalfa. 

2.22 Clovers. 

2.23 Cowpeas. 

2.24 Field peas. 

2.25 Peanuts. 

2.26 Soybeans. 

2.27 Sweet clover. 

2.28 Vetches. 

2.29 Miscellaneous. 



632 Field Crops (Continued): 

2.3 Grasses — hay, meadow, and pas- 

ture. 

2.31 Meadows and pastures. 

2.32 Blue grass. 

2.33 Timothy. 

2.34 Millets. 

2.35 Prairie and native grasses. 

2.36 Sudan grass. 

2.37 Red top. 
2.38 

2.39 Miscellaneous. 

2.4 Root crops. 

2.5 Potatoes. 

2.6 Fiber crops. 

2.61 Cotton. 

2.62 Flax. 

2.63 Hemp. 

2.64 Jute. 

2.65 Broom corn. 
2.66 

2.67 
2.68 
2.69 Miscellaneous. 

2.7 Sugar yielding plants — beets, cane, 

sorghum, maple. 
2.8 
2.9 Miscellaneous. 

2.91 Tobacco. 

2.92 Tea. 

2.93 Coffee. 

633 Horticulture: 

3.1 Vegetables. 

3.2 Orchards. 

3.3 Small fruits. 

3.4 Landscape gardening. 

3.5 The wood lot. 

3.6 Forestry. 

3.7 Gardening. 
3.8 

3.9 Miscellaneous. 

634 Entomology, economic zoology, plant 

pathology, economic botany and 
veterinary science: 

4.1 Entomology. 

4.11 Bees. 

4.2 Economic zoology. 

4.21 Birds. 

4.22 Rodents. 

4.3 Plant pathology. 

4.4 Economic botany. 

4.41 Poisonous plants. 

4.5 Veterinary science. 

4.6 Weeds. 
4.7 

4.8 

4.9 Miscellaneous. 



U'ublished in "The Visitor, 
versify of Minnesota, Dec, 1916. 



Division of Agricultural Education, Uni- 



ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM 



371 



Classification of Books and Bulletins for Agricultural Libraries. 



635 Animal husbandry: 

5.1 Beef cattle. 

5.2 Horses and mules. 

5.3 Sheep and goats. 

5.4 Swine. 

5.5 Poultry. 

5.6 Nutrition. 

5.7 Feeds and feeding. 
5.S 

5.9 Miscellaneous. 

636 Dairy husbandry: 

f). I Production. 

0.2 Manufacture. 

6.3 Equipment. 

6.4 

6.5 

6.6 

6.7 

6.S 

6.0 Miscellaneous. 

637 Engineering: 

7.1 Farm machinery. 

7.2 Farm motors. 

7.3 Farm building and fences. 

7.4 Roads and bridges. 

7.5 Drainage. 

7.6 Irrigation. 

7.7 Surveying and mapping. 
7.8 

7.9 Miscellaneous. 



638 Economics: 

8.1 Farm management. 

8.2 Cooperation. 

8.3 Agricultural credit and insurance. 

8.4 Markets and marketing. 

8.5 Communication — telephone and 

telegraph. 

8.6 Finance and taxation. 

8.7 Labor. 

8.8 Transportation. 

8.9 Miscellaneous. 

639 Miscellaneous: 

9.1 Climate and weather reports. 

9.2 Fishing, hunting, trapping, etc. 

9.3 Rural sociology. 

9.31 Farm organizations. 

9.32 Country church. 

9.33 Rural betterment. 

9.34 Red cross. 
9..35.Y. M. C. A. 
9.36 Y. W. C. A. 
9.37 

9.38 

9.39 Miscellaneous. 

9.4 Catalogues, seeds. 

9.5 Catalogues, educational. 

9.6 Catalogues, supplies. 

9.7 Catalogues, apparatus. 

9.8 Catalogues, equipment. 

9.9 Miscellaneous. 



Advantages of this System. — For a public school this has the 
following advantages : 

It conforms closely enough to the Dewey system so it adapts 
the agricultural books to the remainder of the library and does not 
destroy the working system in the school. 

It is sufficiently elaborate for a public school library. 

It is not too elaborate to be adapted to bulletins and other 
pamphlets as well as to books. 

It permits of any degree of expansion without in any way losing 
its proper place in the library system or overlapping any other 
subject. 

By conforming to the Dewey system teachers and pupils are 
not burdened with two systems. 

The agricultural material can be housed in its regular place 
in the general library or can be made a separate library in the agri- 
culture rooms and changed back and forth any number of times 
without confusion or loss of efficiency. The books, bulletins, and 
other references are classified on the same basis. 

With the system decided upon, the proper designation can be 
placed upon the back of the book and upon the upper left corner of 
the front page of bulletins and other pamphlets. This with the 
author's name will identify the book or pamphlet and determine 
its place upon the shelves. 



372 now TO ORGANIZE AN AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 



Card Index. — All books should be card-indexed. A supply of 
cards, 3 by 5 inches, perforated for a rod, and an index case of two 
to four drawers with a rod to avoid misplacement or loss of cards 
are easily obtained and any librarian Avill give information about 
the process of indexing. In addition to other helps the Agricultiu-al 
Index ^ which is a cumulative index to bulletins and agricultural 
publications will be of great aid in determining the classifications. 

Bulletins may be card-indexed if desired. Many teachers prefer 
to use them without indexing to avoid the time and trouble not 




FlfJ. 207. — Librarj- and bullftin sIipIvos in the renter, witli apparatus and f;])eriniens on the 
sides, in a Micliigan higii school department of agriculture. (W. C. Brown.) 

only of indexing but of depending upon the card index in their use. 

For many of the publications of the United States Department 
of Agriculture such as farmers' bulletins, year books, and circu- 
lars, index cards have been prepared which can be purchased from 
the Librarian of Congress. 

Arrangement.— The books, bulletins, and pamphlets are usually 
stood with backs outward on suitable shelves. The bulletins and 
pamphlets are usually i)laced in pasteboard boxes slightly taller 
and deeper than the pamphk^ts and about three inches thick (Figs, 
207, 208, and 209). On the back of the bulletin box is placed the 
decimal nmnber and also the name of the subject with which the 
pamphlets deal. The bulletin boxes are then arranged on the 

^ Published by H. W. Wilson Co., New York. 



LOCATION 



373 



shelves in the order of the numbers, if a numbering system is used. 
If a numbering system is not used, the bulletin boxes are arranged 
alphabetically according to the subject matter -titles used, e.g., 
alfalfa, beans, corn. 

Another system of arrangement for bulletins and pamphlets 
less widely emploj^ed but strongly advocated is the use of vertical 
fihng cases and guide inserts instead of shelves and pasteboard 
boxes. Though this system seems more expensive, careful esti- 
mates indicate that there is little difference if installed at the 
beginning, A regulation legal cap size vertical filing drawer of 
24-inch depth will hold from 200 to 300 bulletins (standard size. 



Fig. 209. 




Fig. 208. — Side of laboratory in an Alabama high school showing cases and tables made by 

agricultural students. (J. B. Wilson.) 
Fi(!. 209. — Bulletins for distribution to farmers are in piles on the upper shelves. Reference 
bulletins are in the pamphlet cases. 

6 by 9}4 inches) by placing them upright in two rows. A four- 
drawer cabinet will thus hold approximately 1000 bulletins. With 
this system the classification is shown on the guides and on the 
drawer fronts. The cabinet is more elastic, more orderly in appear- 
ance, and more cleanly than the shelves and boxes. 

Location. — If the agriculture pupils prepare their lessons in the 
school study room, using the agriculture rooms for recitations only, 
the agricultural library should be in the same room wdth the other 
reference material, but should be in a sejiarate group easy of access 
for those who pursue agriculture. If double periods are granted 
the agriculture classes and they are allowed to prepare in the 
agriculture rooms, then the agricultural hbrary with its index 
cards should be assembled there and a system of supervised 
study inaugurated. 



374 HOW TO ORGANIZE AN AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY 

Whichever system is used, if the agricultural librarj^ material 
is classified on the same basis as is the general library perfect 
cooperation is possible between the school hbrarian and the agri- 
cultural teacher. If the agricultural library is to be housed in 
the agriculture rooms, a duplicate set of index cards can be made 
which will leave the card index in the general library complete 
and unchanged. 

Other Libraries. — The agricultural library should be supple- 
mented when necessary liy the use of the local libraries and by 
utilizing the facilities of any county or state traveling library 
available. Such facilities are increasing rapidly in many of the 
states and furnish opportunity for a larger use of references with a 
very slight increase of expense. 

EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS 

1. Name three books of fiction dealing with fanning which you have 
read and which yon think desirable for a farmer, as a farmer, to read. 

2. Name five poems that depict farm life (not merely the out-of-door) 
which you would recommend for the agriculture library. Give reasons for 
recommendation. 

3. Name three texts in addition to the one used by the class you would 
like to have the Hbrary obtain to use in farm crops; two in animal husbandry; 
one in poultry; one in horticulture; one in farm mechanics; one in farm 
management. 

4. Make a list of reference books, including those mentioned in exercise 3, 
(a) you would buy with the first $25 available; (b) you would add with 
the next $25; (c) you would add with the next $2.5. 

5. Make a list of (a) agricultural periodicals you would recommend if 
you were allowed ten dollars per year for such subscriptions; (ft) five dollars 
additional. 

6. Make a list of (a) LT. S. D. A. farmers' bulletins desirable for yoiu- 
locaHty and curricukmi; (b) your State College of Agriculture bulletins; (c) 
bulletins from the State Agricultvu-al Colleges of five neighboring states, fisting 
each state separately; (d) from miscellaneous sources, mentioning the sources. 

7. Make a Ust of ten bulletins that you would fike to have in the library 
relating to a topic in which you are specially interested. 

8. Name three books on some phase of agriculture you would recommend 
for farmers of your acquaintance. 

9. Name any papers which you know come into the neighborhood that are 
devoted to a particular breed of livestock or to a particular crop. 

10. Does your state publish a year book of agriculture? How many have 
been issued? How many are in the hbrary of your school? 

11. Compare the classification systems mentioned in this chapter, choose 
the one you prefer, and give reasons for your choice. 

12. Study carefully the classifying system used in your school or in a 
specific one familiar to you and explain its characteristics and operation. 

13. Do the same with the card-index system. 

14. Do the same with the shelf arrangement. 

15. Give argmuents for and against the shelf-pasteboard-box system of 
arranging bulletins. 

16. Do the same regarding the vertical filing cabinet system. 



REFERENCES 375 

17. Where should the agricultural library be housed in your school (or in 
a specific one with which you are famiUar)? Why? 

18. What other libraries are available for use in the school considered in 
exercise 17? 

19. Has your county or state a traveUng Hbrary system? 

20. If so, explain how you, or your class, or your school can utihze it. 

21. Get a state school hbrary catalogue, if. one is issued by your state, and 
check books suitable for your hbrary. Suggest omissions and additions. 

22. Look up the state plan for aiding schools in the purchase of libraries; 
learn steps in procuring this aid; obtain the blank forms used for this purpose. 

REFERENCES 

Hummel, W. G. and Bertha R. : "Materials and Methods in High-School 

Agriculture." 
Nolan, Aretas W.: "The Teaching of Agriculture." 
Stimson, RuFtJS W.: "Vocational Agricultural Education." 
McCoRD, J. N.: "Textbook of Filing." 



CHAPTER XVIII 
HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

Every school offering a course in agriculture should attempt 
to conduct work in relation to the community around it. It may 
serve a purpose iri helping the farmers and others of the region. 
It may use the materials and practices of the region in giving 
instructions to the students of the school. 

The School as a Community Center. — Much has been written 
by educators in the last few years regarding the importance of 
making the school the center for community action and community 
endeavor. The school building may be used as a meeting place. 
In this way the building serves a double purpose. Instead of 
remaining idle many hours of the day it is used for many late after- 
noon and night meetings. Among the meetings which are often 
held at the school houses are spelling schools, night schools, literary 
societies, general community clubs, parent-teachers' associations, 
agricultural clubs, story-telling classes, reading circles, farmers' 
institutes, short courses (Fig. 210), boys and girls' special clubs, 
community canning circles, sewing circles, cooperative organiza- 
tions, dairy associations, fruit growers' associations, poultry asso- 
ciations, and others (Fig. 211). 

Let the school serve as a center in the dissemination of knowl- 
edge, particularly in agriculture, home economics, and mechanics. 
The people should feel that the school is their own and that they 
can come to the school for information on any subject which con- 
cerns their home work and home life. The school should be so 
well equipped that it can give the information desired to any who 
may inquire. Much of this information may be given by means 
of literature or through books in the library. The school should 
have a valuable library which can be circulated among people of 
the community. It should not be of the common type of popular 
novels but may include the best of these. It should have sound 
books on topics which will help improve the life of the community 
and better the conditions found there. Much reading of good 
books will help the people of any commimity. A school orchestra 
(Fig. 212), or other means of supplying music, will aid in making 
the school an attractive center for the community. 
376 



AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT AND COMMUNITY 377 



Social Room. — The school should have a place where parents 
and others not regularly in class will feel at home. These social 
rooms should have comfortable equipment and furniture such as 
club rooms often have. In many cases communities have been 
willing to subscribe funds to provide and equip such rooms. They 
should be encouraged to place these rooms in the school building 




Fig. 210. — For an institute held under the auspices of the agricultural department, the 

home economics students baked half a cord of bread, roasted 140 pounds of meat, and served 

the food furnished by the local commercial club. (J. A. Cederstrom.) 

rather than in separate buildings, if the school is to be a social 
center. The cooking equipment of the school may be used on 
occasions when the community meetings are held at night or other 
times. The small expense for heating, lighting, and service may 
be met by special funds raised for the purpose. 

The Agricultural Department and the Community. — The pm-- 
pose of this chapter is to suggest and discuss methods by which 
the agricultural work of the school may be linked up closely with 
the farm operations of the region. The modern methods of teach- 



378 



HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 



ing agriculture through home project work aid materially in bring- 
ing the school and community together. Figure 114 is a map of a 
community in South Carolina made and used by an agricultural 
instructor in the high school. 

For convenience let us consider the topics of this chapter 

Fig. 211 




Fig. 211. — Community clubs may be called occasionally to meet on the farms of members 

and other times at the school. (A. Z. Arehart.) 
Fig. 212. — An orchestra organized and perhaps led (as in this case) by the teacher of agri- 
culture will aid in making the school an attractive center. (Albert F. Laurence, Minn.) 

under two main headings: (1) How the community problems may 
be brought to the school, chiefly for the benefit and to supply 
materials and problems for the use of the school. (2) How the 
school work may be taken out to the community, either for the 
benefit of the students or for the benefit of people in the community 
or for both purposes. 



SEEDS TO INOCULATE 379 

BRINGING COMMUNITY PROBLEMS TO THE SCHOOL 

Let US first consider how materials and problems of the com- 
munity may be brought to the school for the aid of the work in 
the school. By the use of things which are furnished by the people 
the community itself is linked a little closer to the school. 

Seed Com to be Tested. — In the winter season when the class in 
field crops is ready for practice in seed testing, let corn or other 
seeds for that purpose be brought from farms of the region. Sup- 
pose that Farmer A has several bushels of seed corn stored 
which has not been tested. By inquiry some member of the class 
may be able to give the information, and the corn is located. 
Arrangement can be made for the corn to be brought to school 
and kept on trays, or on shelves, or hung on rope ladders or other 
devices. Let the students have the necessary practice in testing 
a few kernels from each of the ears of corn in the lot. After the 
testing is over the students should do the culling necessary to 
give the owner the desired information regarding any ears wliich 
are not fit for planting. The corn is then returned. If more prac- 
tice of this nature is desired, other lots of corn may be brought 
from other farmers. 

Com for Judging. — Material for exercises in corn judging and 
corn selection may be obtained from farmers of the community. 
They will be glad to furnish the corn for this purpose. Most of it 
will be returned eventually to the owner. Perhaps the ones for 
judging may be used also for testing, and the owner will receive 
much benefit by having it tested and culled before planting it. 

Grain Judging and Seed Testing. — ^It often occurs that seeds of 
certain crops are in bad condition and should be tested before 
planting. Wheat, oats, peas, beans, etc., may need careful exami- 
nation, judging, and testing before they are planted. Farmers 
may be asked to furnish large enough samples for these pm'poses, 
and all students will receive good practice in grain judging and 
seed testing. 

Seeds to Inoculate. — Offers may be made to inoculate legume 
seeds for farmers of the community. Students need practice in 
doing this work. A suitable place is the school laboratory. Ma- 
terial for inoculation is usually available in the soils at the school. 
If necessary, inoculation materials may be obtained from other 
fields, or from artificial cultures. It should not be announced 
that the school will do all the inoculating which all farmers may 
want done. But enough work of this kind should be secured from 



380 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

the community to teach students how to handle the materials 
and seeds well. Let them learn different methods, as the agglutina- 
tion method, the artificial culture method, and the soil method. 
The seeds wall, of course, be returned to their owners ready for 
planting. The farmers and students have both been benefited. 

Seeds to be Cleaned at the School. — In regions where clover, 
timothy, or other legumes or grass seeds are threshed for use or 
for sale, these may be brought to the school, where a fanning mill 
is to be operated by the students. If the fanning mill is not owned 
by the school, it can perhaps be secured for the purpose by bor- 
rowing it from some farmer or from an implement dealer. All the 
students in the field crops class should learn to know the problems 
of seed cleaning and learn how to manipulate the seeds and the 
machine. They should become sldlful in determining the sizes 
of sieves to be used, and in determining the necessary speed of the 
fan in the mill. If the seeds such as those before mentioned are 
not available, common small grains may be used for the purpose. 

Other lessons to be learned in these exercises are the sizes and 
weights of the different kinds of weed seeds. They should learn 
to know what kinds of trash and other inert matter are most 
quickly found in the different seeds run through the mill. Per- 
centages of impurities of difi'erent kinds may l^e determined by 
weighing before and weighing the products after cleaning. 

Grain to Treat for Smut. — Let samples of oats, barley, and 
wheat be brought from farms of the region to be treated to prevent 
smuts of different kinds. Several methods of treatment may be 
practiced by students. The hot-water method, the copper sulfate 
method, and the formalin method may all be tried and the results 
compared in the season's crops. By furnishing the grains for these 
exercises, the farmers will secure treated seeds free from smut 
which \v\\] aid materially in growing better crops the following 
season. Other farmers of the region may wish to have the school 
treat field seeds also. This may not be necessary so far as prac- 
tice of the students is concerned. Enough practice must be given 
to the students to enable them to do the work well and not overlook 
any of the essential steps in the operations. Members of the class 
may thus be encouraged by other farmers to do similar treating 
by the formalin method on farms of the community. This may 
be with or without compensation. 

Potatoes Treated for Scab. — I^et one or more growers of Irish 
potatoes supply seed potatoes to be treated at the school to pre- 



CUTTINGS OF SMALL FRUITS FOR SCHOOL USE 381 

vent the development of scab disease. Facilities for treating the 
potatoes may be arranged in advance and a definite time set for 
the operation. Arrangements can usually be made for the farmer 
to have a wagon load or less of the potatoes hauled to the school 
at that time. The best methods of treating seed potatoes may be 
practiced by the students working in groups. If desired, the lots 
treated in different ways may be kept in separate sacks when they 
are returned to the owner. He may be so instructed as to be able 
to keep these separate at planting time so that results can be com- 
pared in the next crop. 

Scions to be Grafted. — An offer may be made to the farmers of 
the region by which they can bring to the school scions from their 
best apple trees to be grafted on to roots by students at the school. 
The offer should limit the work or number of scions so that the 
school will not be overburdened with too much practice material. 
The offer should be made in late fall, and the scions when brought 
should be properly labeled with variety, owner's name, and the 
number of grafts he is to receive in return. Each farmer may be 
charged a few cents each for the grafts, if necessary, to cover the 
cost of apple-seedling roots used in this exercise. The stocks 
may be purchased from large nurseries in the Middle West and 
stored in moist sawdust in a cold cellar until used. When the 
students are ready for practice in root grafting they may be as- 
signed to each lot of scions for practice. After each student learns 
to make perfect grafts, the next point should be speed. This skill 
and speed should both be attained by all members of the class. 
Each lot of grafts is carefully labeled on small painted wooden 
labels with the variety of fruit and the owner's name. Some 
student should keep a record at each laboratory period of the varie- 
ties, number of grafts made, and the owner of each lot. These 
are again stored as before to be held until spring. They will then 
be deUvered to the owners to be planted almost entirely beneath the 
ground in rows in the garden where they can be cultivated 
one season. 

In this exercise many surplus scions may be obtained for use 
in planting a small school nursery. These may be grafted, stored, 
and planted. The growth and care of small nursery trees on school 
grounds will furnish other good lessons in fruit growing. 

Cuttings of Small Fruits for School Use. — Students of the class 
may be asked to bring to the school from their home farms prun- 
ings from small fruits such as currants and gooseberries, and roots 



382 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

of blackberries. They should bring primings from grape vines in 
early winter. They may also bring cuttings of ornamental shrubs, 
such as privet hedge, Japanese rose, dwarf barberry,^ golden bell, 
and many others. From these prunings suitable cuttings may 
be made for future planting. These may be stored in cold cellars 
in damp sawdust to callous until spring planting time. They 
may then be set deep in the groimd in garden rows. 

Strawberries and Other Perennials to Plant. — In community 
surveys or in trips of the class it may be found that some farmers 
of the region have many surplus plants of certain kinds which they 
are willing to divide with the school. Students may bring these 
to school for starting plantations on the land laboratory. Among 
such plants that are thus found and supplied may be any or all 
of the following : Strawberries of several different varieties, clumps 
of asparagus for beds, rhubarb that needs dividing, peonies that 
need dividing and thinning, lilies of many kinds, iris, daffodils 
and narcissus, cannas, calladiums, roses, and many kinds of 
ornamental shrubs. 

The school may thus be able to obtain many suitable plants 
for ornamental planting as well as those of economic value. The 
students will receive benefit in knowing how these plants are trans- 
planted and propagated. They may also have good lessons in 
establishing beds and in arranging ornamental planting. 

Fruits to Judge. — Students may bring from their homes ex- 
hibits of apples or other fruits to be shown at the school as they 
would show them at fairs. Some of these may be arranged on 
plates and used by students in the study of varieties and in judg- 
ing specimens. 

Some of the apples may be brought in boxes for use and may 
be used by the students for practice in packing. Unsorted fruit 
may be used in sorting and grading exercises. After fruit has 
been sorted and graded according to size, different sizes maj^ be 
packed by different systems. 

Insect Enemies. — On every farm there are insect enemies which 
are not well understood. Farmers of the region should be encour- 
aged to bring specimens of such insects to the school for identifica- 
tion and study. Many questions in the farmer's mind are easily 
settled by the school. Students will receive benefit in identifying 
the specimens and in investigating the life history of various kinds 
and in methods of control. In many cases, students who have learned 

1 Avoid the common barberry, which harbors grain rust. 



PLANNING FARM STRUCTURES • 383 

how to look up insect literature may be assigned to the problems 
presented by farmers. After enough training all members of the 
class may be enlisted in such work. 

Plant Diseases. — ^When farmers find various fruits, field crops, 
or garden crops affected by diseases they should bring the parts 
or plants affected to the school. Other students and instructors 
may make good use of the material and may be able in most cases 
to assist the farmer in solving problems of fighting the enemy. 

Noxious Weeds of the Region. — Numerous questions should be 
asked by people in the community regarding certain strange weeds 
introduced from time to time from other regions. The length of 
life, nature of growth, methods of spreading, and other information 
regarding the weeds can be obtained from students or the instruc- 
tor at the school. Students will get much benefit in studjdng 
such specimens and looking up literature regarding each kind of 
pest. Farmers should be instructed regarding the best methods of 
eradication and control. They may be shown what kinds of rota- 
tion of crops will best destroy certain types of weeds with least 
labor. The slow, laborious ways of fighting weeds should always 
be condemned and supplanted with the easy wholesale methods. 

Farm Machinery to Repair and Study. — On some farms of nearly 
all regions machines can be found which need considerable repair. 
Students in farm shop work may need just the practice which 
this machinery would supply. Classes will thus get practice in 
replacement of old parts with new ones and in doing all kinds of 
repair work. The farmers may be willing to pay for the repairing 
done by students, and should at least pay for the newparts furnished. 

Schools in need of such practice work should try to locate in 
their communities suitable machinery for the purpose ; an auto- 
mobile engine, a badly worn tractor, a stationary engine, a binder, 
a corn harvester, a thresher, a mower, a wagon. 

Planning Farm Structures. — When the classes in farm me- 
chanics and engineering are ready to plan farm buildings, it may 
be possible to find some farmer in the community who is about 
ready to consider plans for a barn, dairy house, or other structure. 
Get this farmer to tell the class what he needs : approximate size, 
nmnber of animals (if a barn), feed storage needed, special rooms 
desired, slope of the ground, materials most available, limits of 
cost. Assign certain students or the whole class to the problem. 
They will get much more training from studying and planning a real 
structure than one which may never be built. The farmer will doubt- 



384 • HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

less get a better planned structure than if he planned it himself or 
built it without any definite plan. Students should make drawings 
of the floor plans and certain elevations and sections. They should 
also make a detailed list of materials required for the structure. 

If this problem can be worked out on a building which is typical 
in size and other respects, it may be used by several farmers later. 
It will thus serve as a type of good structure for the community. 
In that case it should bear the name of the school or the name of 
the farmer who first built it. 

Ventilation of Buildings. — In middle and northern climates, 
the King system of ventilation or some other good system should 
be installed in farm barns. Farmers deciding to install such a 
system should come to the school to get plans that may be 
suited to their particular structures. After stating their problems 
to the class, suitable plans should be furnished by students to 
each farmer. 

Milk and Cream to Test at the School. — Farmers should know 
more definitely the producing powers of members of their dairy 
herds. They may be induced to bring in samples of milk of each 
cow in their herds for the school to test. The weight of milk and 
the presence of butter fat are two important factors from which is 
determined the value of each milch cow. In dairy regions farmers 
are keeping cows that do not pay for their keep. Farmers should 
be taught to weigh their milk and to take samples carefully. They 
can systematically bring these samples to the school for testing. 
Poison tablets to keep the samples from spoiling may be furnished 
by the school. The report of a cow's production should be calcu- 
lated by students after adding weights for a given period and 
multiplying this by the percentage of butter fat found in the test. 
The immense money value of close cooperation in this work by 
th(; connnunity and the scliool can hardly be estimated. 

Animals for School Instruction, — Farmers can bring to the 
school specimens of cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, and poultry for 
use of students in animal husbandry in judging work. Instructors 
knowing the location of suitable animals in the community can 
usually secure them for this purpose. Owners are often glad to 
have their animals thus exhibited and used. The loan of the 
animals should be treated by the instructor as a concession to the 
school — supplying something which the school greatly needs. 
The owners will usually obtain good training themselves while 
their animals are being studied by students. 



LINES OF EXTENSION WORK TO ENCOURAGE 385 

Classes should be ready to make the best use of the animals 
while they are there. All preliminary studies for the work should 
be completed in advance. The actual use and practice work 
should begin and continue during the period planned while the 
animals are there. A place to keep the animals should be provided 
in advance. All schools should plan to have pens or other more 
suitable quarters where such studies can be pursued. The animals 
may be driven or hauled to and from the school by the owners 
when desired. 

Some of the exercises with horses brought to the school may 
consist of examining them for unsoundness, for blemishes, and 
for malformations. Other exercises with animals may consist of 
treating them for disease, or for other purposes. Specimens exhibit- 
ing certain characteristics of structure, gait, or other peculiarities 
may be used as object lessons in class instruction. Examples of 
breeds of the different classes of livestock may be brought to the 
school to illustrate the types or breeds. All the classes of farm 
animals, including poultry, may be brought at different times to the 
school for this purpose. 

Soils to Test and Study.— All regions of the community should 
supply soil samples to the school. Fresh samples may be tested for 
Ume,for acidity, for amount of organic matter, and for water-holding 
capacity. Samples should be kept permanently in jars or bottles. 
The labels should show on what farms orwhat fields they were taken, 
with date and results of tests. These can be used by classes study- 
ing soil maintenance and crop production whenever occasion offers. 

TAKING THE SCHOOL WORK TO THE COMMUNITY 

There are chiefly two purposes in attempting to extend the 
activities of the school throughout the region: (1) to give the 
students practice or instruction with materials, and objects, found 
in the connnunity; (2) to aid members of the community in the 
kinds of work which students are pursuing. These two purposes 
may often be combined and, indeed, usually should be combined 
in all of the extension work of the school. It should be noted 
here that this chapter does not deal with the home project work 
of students, which is in itself an important phase of community 
extension work. How to Conduct Home Project Work is the 
title of another chapter in this book. 

Lines of Extension Work to Encourage. — The agricultural sur- 
veys made through members of the school should serve as a means 
25 



386 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

of knowing what kinds of extension work to pursu(\ The instruc- 
tor will grow more and more acquainted with the agricultural 
conditions of the region. He can better select lines of work which 
will be of value to the farmer's of the community. He will know 
better what places are most suitable for giving the desired instruc- 
tion to his students. 

Under the following headings are discussed a number of topics 
with suggestions for working out details regarding the work of the 
school in the region. A few schools may find some of these lines 
of extension work not suited to their local conditions, but it is 
beheved that from the list may be selected a number of valuable 
kinds of work, the pursuing of which will benefit both the school 
and the people of an^^ region. 

Lessons on Poultry Farms. — ^Take the students to important 
poultry plants of the region. Let each trip be for a particular 
purpose. Many incidental lessons can be learned on every trip. 
Suppose, for example, that the people of one region desire a lesson 
on culhng poultry for the laying flocks. The class may be taken 
in carry-alls or in automobiles to a suitable place where plenty of 
birds are ready for the exercise. Let every student and, so far as 
possible, every member of the community have practice in actual 
culling fowls after the points in culling have been reviewed at the 
place. This makes the lesson practical for both students and 
people. No student can become an expert in such work without 
practice. On another occasion the special practice work may be 
in caponizing. At another place disinfecting houses, or otherwise 
stamping out a disease, may be the chief ol)ject. Read again 
the points suggested under the head of poultry trips in the poul- 
try chapter. 

Lessons on Dairy Farms. — Some of the special lines of practice 
for students taken out to dairy farms are the following: Selection 
and culling young stock for the future herd; selecting and culling 
producing cows (Fig. 213) ; the registration, numbering, and ear- 
marking of animals; the treating of calves to prevent horns; the 
dehorning of animals; the castration of calves; the study of methods 
of feeding and management and improving of these; the making 
of calf -feeding stanchions; the installing of cement floors, man- 
gers, and manure gutters; the installing of tracks, and litter 
carriers and feed carriers. 

A number of other suggestions regarding dairy trips have been 
given in the chapter on dairying. 



AN EXTENSION TRIP FOR WORK W ITH SHEEP 387 

An Example of Extension Work with Swine. — Many agricultural 
teachers have taken their classes out to swine farms to treat herds 
against cholera. When such practice is to be given, the instructor 
should be certain that authority, if necessary, has been obtained 
from state officials for the handling of cholera serum or virus or 
both. Let all students understand and practice the methods of 
disinfection of instruments and skin of the animal. Let them all 
have practice in managing the animal to be treated. Let all have 
practice in using the instruments and materials. Let the owner 
also have practice in all of these for his own future needs. In 
connection with such a trip the students should learn the dosage 
tables and should drill on points of difficulty. They should learn 
the probable causes of failure and the remedies for these. If any 
cholera is manifested, all should study the symptoms carefully. 
If a dead pig has been found, a post-mortem examination 
should be made, and the definite marks of cholera on the 
kidneys and other parts should be noticed. All such work 
should be in full harmony with local veterinarians as well as 
state authorities. 

Other Lessons with Swine. — ^Among the special objects of trips 
to farms where hogs are raised may be mentioned the following: 
The study of special breeds or study of certain families of breeds ; 
the study of special methods of managing hog pastures and other 
lines of feeding; the treating of hogs for lice, worms, and other 
enemies; the castration of pigs; the judging of animals and selecting 
the breed of stock both male and female; the registration, number- 
ing, and ear-marking of pigs; the making of hog cots and special 
swine appliances. Refer again to the swine trip suggested in the 
animal husbandry chapter. 

An Extension Trip for Work with Sheep.- — Good practice for 
students in many schools would be the shearing of sheep and dip- 
ping of animals after shearing. All students should be given prac- 
tice by shearing several animals. They should learn how to 
handle the animals, how to shear by hand and by machine clippers, 
and how to take care of the fleece. After the shearing exercise 
is over, students may be given practice in judging fleeces and 
estimating weights. 

In many sections of the country, it is a good practice for owners 
to dip sheep after shearing. This is to combat ticks, scab, and 
other external troubles. Students and owner should make a vat, 
or at least study the structure of a good dipping vat, learn to make 



388 



HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 



suitable mixtures for different purposes, and learn to manage 
animals before and after dipping. 

Other Lessons with Sheep. — Among the other special lessons 
(Fig. 213) learned on trips to farms where sheep are kept the 
follo\\dng may be mentioned: Making or otherwise studying suit- 
able winter quarters for pregnant ewes; the winter feeding of 
hot-house lambs; the structure of feeding racks and other sheep 







Fir. 213. — On a neighboring stock farm these Missouri students obtained good practice in 
judging sheep and dairy cattle. (J. A. Wisdom.) 

apphances; the operation of docking; treating of hoofs; castration; 
the selection of breeding stock and other judging of sheep; the 
marking of pedigreed stock; the management of ewes and lambs 
at lambing time. In connection with the last mentioned topic, 
students should be given practice in making ewes own their lambs, 
in making ewes adopt orphan lambs, and in maldng ewes whose 
lambs are dead adopt lambs from pairs of twins. 

Lessons in these points can be learned by the owners at the 
same time. In all of the topics mentioned let students and owners 
get as much instruction and actual practice as the occasion offers. 



OTHER LESSONS ON BEEF CATTLE FARMS 389 

An Extension Trip to a Beef Cattle Farm. — When the class goes 
to a beef cattle farm for the grading of lots of animals for the 
purpose of marketing, feeding, etc., they should all be given 
active practice in every step of the work. An owner of a herd 
which needs grading and dividing in the fall after the stock 
have been brought in from grazing can often be found. He may 
be willing and anxious to have the assistance of the instructor 
and students in this work. This is more important to him when 
there are large nmnbers of animals. The students and owner 
should be instructed in the different grades which should be made. 
Examples of each grade can be selected and separated for brief 
study. This preliminary work should then be followed by abun- 




FiG. 214. — In a region where there are good breeds of livestock, students and farmers may 

be given practice in examining and judging them. The school need not own them if home 

project methods are followed. (A. M. Field.) 

dant rapid practice by all members of the class. After the grouping 
has been completed and the animals well sorted for the winter, the 
exercise may be followed by making plans for the proper care and 
management of each lot of cattle. Students may be given exercises 
in judging weights and in actually weighing those to be sold. 

Other Lessons on Beef Cattle Farms. — When students go to 
beef cattle farms they may have exercises and study in a number 
of things of value to themselves, to the owner, and usually of value 
to both : The marking of pedigreed stock ; the making up of sale 
lists for auction sales; the preparing of pure-bred animals for fairs 
and sales, as clipping, washing, grooming, dressing horns, and 
preparing feed rations; the dehorning and castration of animals; 
the branding of cattle before going on to ranches in the spring; 
the vaccination for black-leg; the making of racks and other appli- 
ances for feeding and care of beef cattle. 



390 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

An Extension Lesson on a Horse Farm. — Suppose the class is 
taken to a farm where pure-bred horses are raised. The owner 
will usually be glad to have the students come and may be able 
to glean a few points from the lesson himself. Students may be 
given an abundance of practice in judging and selecting animals 
on the farm (Fig. 214). Colts, brood mares, and sires may be 
first judged by score cards, then they may be compared with each 
other in groups of the same age. Let students have practice in 
discovering and pointing out weak points and strong points of 
all the different animals. Features which go to make up types 
should be studied carefully and all students induced to drill upon 
all the animals found on the farm. Make special drills and 
practice to make students skilful in finding unsoundnesses, 
blemishes and defects. Drill in determining the ages of animals. 
They should all study gaits until they become somewhat expert 
in the detection of different gaits and judging of animals concerning 
their gaits. 

Other Lessons on Horse and Mule Farms. — When students go 
to places in the community they may make special studies of any 
of the following points : The management of work animals brought 
in from plantation work in hot or cold weather; the management 
of harnesses and implements or vehicles where many animals are 
worked; the problems of proper feeding, watering, and grooming 
on farms where a number of drivers are engaged; the problems 
of grading and feeding a number of young animals that are to 
be kept over winter; the special problems of feeding animals 
for sales; the special problems of feeding mules and other work 
teams for exhibition; the planning of interior of barns and stalls; 
the care, management and feeding *of breeding animals, both 
male and female. 

When students visit farms for any of these studies, the prac- 
tices of owners should be discussed. Score cards can be used 
by which successes in different operations may be rated. The 
students should be given practice so far as possible in operations 
which will make them more skilful. 

Diseases of Animals. — Many schools with agricultural depart- 
ments, located in regions where veterinarians are either scarce or 
kindly disposed towards the school work, find it possible to aid 
farmers in preventing or treating nearly all classes of common 
diseases of farm animals. Students who are capable and who have 
had practice in the work are sent to various farms when called 



SPRAYING AND OTHER LESSONS WITH FRUITS 391 

in many cases, and when the whole class need to be instructed 
they all go to the farm for the lesson. The farmer himself, if unin- 
formed, should always be instructed and required to take part in 
the treatment so that he need not call for the same kind of help 
a second time. 

A Lesson in Orchard Pruning. — When some farmer in the 
region needs help in learning to prune his home orchard properly, 
the class may go to his farm for practice. Be sure that the owner 
and his laborers are at home, as they should all receive the instruc- 
tion while the class is getting practice in pruning. After the first 
preliminary lesson regarding how to prune and what to prune 
have been reviewed, the students and owner should each be set 
to work in practicing these methods. The instructor should go 
among them frequently and rapidly to avoid as many mistakes 
as possible. Pruners will often be in doubt just what to cut, and 
the instructor's decision will have to be rendered. Teach them 
all as soon as possible to make decisions for themselves and to 
work as if they were alone and the trees were their own. 

If future pruning trips are to be made, let different kinds and 
different ages of trees be selected for the purpose. Neighbors 
should be invited to be present and participate in pruning demon- 
strations and exercises. If different trips are then taken in different 
directions from the school the people in several neighborhoods 
Avill be given opportunity to learn pruning methods. 

Spraying and Other Lessons with Fruits.^ — Many owners of 
home orchards fail to study the subject of combating insects and 
diseases enough to properly protect their own fruit. The fruit 
class may go to the orchards in different neighborhoods to spray 
for enemies which should be fought in the winter. They may go 
to still others for subsequent spraying work. The student will 
thus get practice in making up spraying materials for different 
pests and for different seasons. They should learn to handle 
different kinds of spray apparatus. Perhaps some of the spraying 
outfits will be owned by the farmers, and in some cases the school 
equipment will be used. Let farmers be urged to provide their 
own equipment, which may be selected for them by the school. 

Give the students, owners, and neighbors instruction and prac- 
tice in fighting borers, combating mice and rabbits. 

At marketing time the fruit class may go to various orchards 
for practice in picking, sorting, packing, and storing or marketing 
fruit. Conmiunity demonstrations should be made on all of these 



392 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

occasions so as to extend widely the best practices. The school 
may also conduct projects in utilization of waste products by 
canning, making pi-eserves, drying, making cider and other juices. 

Exercises in Budding. — If stocks have been started in the 
spring by farmers or by nurserymen living near the school, let 
members of the class have practice in the early fall in budding 
such fruits as peaches, plums, cherries, and apples. 

Starting Orchards. — If it is found that some one in the region is 
planning to set out a young orchard, the school may go to his 
assistance. One trip may be made to lay off the orchard, stake 
places for trees, and perhaps dig holes in the proper place with the 
use of planting boards for the future placing of trees. On another 
day let students, owners, and neighbors have practice in plant- 
ing trees properly. They should learn to prune roots and tops 
before planting. 

Landscape Garden Practice. — After the school has had practice 
in planting shrubbery, starting lawns, and planting vines and 
trees about the school, there may be need for practice at a few 
other places, provided grounds, church yards, and farm homes 
may be used for such work. Students should each be expected 
to make drawings shomng plans for planting and showing 
what changes should be made in the lay-out. Owners should be 
expected to supply the trees, shrubs, vines, and seeds for the work. 
They should also take active part by the removal of rubbish, 
hauling good soil where needed, supplying manure, providing 
water if needed, and by taking part in the planting. Some classes 
have been successful in having good community gatherings on 
such occasions. All people of the community are thus given a 
chance to learn the principles of landscape gardening, and to see 
one good example of putting these points to use. (See again the 
suggestions given in the chai:)ter on horticulture.) 

Community Lessons in Home Gardens. — When people want 
help from the school in gardening subjects, individual students or 
the whole class may be given practice while helping them. Some 
of the special lessons which are often given by schools to farmers 
and other families and neighbors are here mentioned: The making 
of hotbeds and coldframes and the starting of these in the spring; 
the making of compost heaps; the laying out and planning of 
home gardens; new methods of staking and trellising; combating 
insects and diseases; the preparing of special products for market- 
ing; the treating of Irish potatoes to prevent scab disease; the 



WORK IN TERRACING AND LAND DRAINAGE 



393 



installing of irrigation systems; the planning and starting of 
systems of succession and companion cropping. 

New Plants for Farms. — If the school has shown that certain 
new plants are successful in that region by growing them on the 
school grounds, they should soon be introduced on many of the 
surrounding farms. For example, if soybeans, alfalfa, rape, or 
other crops are not grown in the vicinity but should be grown, 
give demonstrations in how to start these crops. Arrange with 
some farmer to grow one or more of these crops at home. Have the 
ground prepared according to directions in advance. Let the 




Fig. 215. — A grcuj) uf ajiiiculture .studouts of tljc Santa Uusa High School visited tlic (.xijcii- 
xnental grounds of Luther Burbank and were favored with a two-hour demonstration and 
lecture on plant production. Center: Luther Burbank and county agricultural director. 

(C. L. Hampton.) 

class and neighbors be present for the final planting of the crop 
and for the performance of any special steps needed in starting 
the crop, as liming, inoculation, and special fertilizing. On such 
an occasion let members of the class be ready to give to the com- 
munity meeting short talks from the charts touching upon different 
phases of the management of the new crop. Plant breeding or 
any new productions in the region may be made the object of 
trips (Fig. 215). 

Work in Terracing and Land Drainage. — Students should take 
leveUng instruments from the school to farms where the owners 
wish to establish terraces or install drainage systems. After the 
preliminary surve,ys have been made and the owner and school 
have agreed on the plans, the farmer may be advised regarding 



394 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

the details of procedure. The members of the class may or may not 
take part in the future steps. They should, however, be expected to 
watch the work as it progresses. If the work in terracing is not satis- 
factory, they should do some work that will serve as a good example. 

The steps in drainage should be followed closely. After the 
ditch is dug students should verify closely the grades of the bottom 
of the ditch before tile is laid. Members of the class and owner 
should have practice in laying tile carefully. The installing of 
sediment basins, the structure of branches, the starting of heads 
and finishing of outlets are important elements for practice. 

Lessons with Soils and Tillage of Soils. — Members of the class 
or all of them in company with the instructor should visit farms 
at various times and may give a number of important lessons to 
people of the community regarding soils and their management. 
Teach how to detect the amount of humus, amount of moisture, 
proportion of sand and clay, and how to take soil samples. Demon- 
strations should be given on farms of implements Avhich are not 
commonly in use in the region — new forms of rollers, new forms 
of cultivators, new kinds of diggers and planters; use of tractors, 
the importance of harrowing after use of smooth rollers, the use 
of subsoiling plows, and any others that become available. 

Community Work in Farm Mechanics. — When students have 
learned some of the special lessons in farm mechanics necessary 
for certain farm projects, they may be able to find suitable farms 
for trying their hands under the guidance of a good instructor. 
The following fields of work are suggested from which selection 
may be made: Install water-pressure systems. Install pumping 
fixtures. Build septic tanks and install sewerage systems. Install 
farm lighting systems. Install stationary engines and machinery 
and shafting. Make concrete walks, or floors, or do other concrete 
work. Help frame farm structures and oversee the other steps 
in the building. Install modern fences and iinproved gates. 

Give demonstrations in use of road drags. Give object lessons 
to farmers in rope splicing. Students may build bird houses and 
erect them about their homes or about the homes of willing neigh- 
bors. They should have practice in painting buildings and in 
whitewashing others. A few such lessons on badly run down farms 
may induce owners to improve their premises in other ways and 
thus the whole neighborliood -wall ])e benefited. 

Cooperation with Other Schools. — County high schools aiid 
village or city schools with agricultural departments should cooper- 



COMMUNITY FAIRS 



395 



ate with smaller schools in the region for the teaching of agriculture. 
In some cases the instructor of agriculture is employed to give a 
part of his time each week or each month in instructing the teachers 
of smaller schools in special subjects, such as gardening, dairying, 
and poultry raising. By this means the teachers so instructed 
are able to conduct suitable exercises in their own schools. Suit- 
able bulletins may be furnished to these teachers. 

Plans for the beautifying of rural school grounds may be made for 




Fig. 216. — School exhibits of asricultural products may be supplemented by shop work, 

maps, pictures, charts, plant specimens, insect collections, and cut flowers. (School Garden 

Association of America.) 

each of the schools by students in high school departments. The 
teachers should then be instructed how to secure the plants and how 
to plant them according to the plans furnished. These plans should 
be framed and kept in the rural schools for future guidance of all. 

Kits of simple apparatus are sometimes put up by the central 
school for use in the other schools. Specimens for practice in 
judging grains, grasses, and corn may likewise be provided by 
the agricultural department from its farm or land laboratory. 

Community Fairs. — At least once a year all agricultural dis- 
tricts should hold a good community fair. The school should take 
an active part in this, and perhaps the instructor of agriculture 



396 



HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 



should be the main leader in starting the movement for a good 
fair. A few discussions may be started among the students regard- 
ing the value of such fairs, materials for them, suitable places, 
premium lists and premiums. 

This early discussion should be followed by the calling of a 
few community leaders together, or by having the subject dis- 
cussed by them or by students at a regular meeting of some com- 
munity club. Committees may be appointed by this club or by 
the special meeting to consider each of the foregoing points and 
report kt a future meeting. Later these same committees may be 
appointed to raise donations for premiums or make plans by which 
premiums may be raised. Perhaps a charge for admission to the 
fair will provide for premiums. In some cases no premiums other 
than ril^bons are offered. 




Fig. 217. — Thanksgiving exliibit by students in vDiatiinial agriculture, held in tin .,,,]- 
niunity church. (G. S. Bnt^gaii, Ark.) 

If conditions are favorable for the fair at the school, the first 
fair may include all kinds of farm products (Figs. 216, 217, and 218) 
except the large livestock, and at future fairs include these also. 
Judging of products at community fairs should be unofficially 
done by all students studying agriculture. This gives them good 
practice which cannot be easily secured in the same length of 
time elsewhere. The official judging, however, should be in charge 
of some competent judge engaged for the purpose from another 
school or from another community. Use the fair in trying to 
standardize the leading varieties of important crops (Fig. 219). 

Instruction Booths at Community and County Fairs. — The de- 
partment of agriculture of the school should see to it that several 
or many booths are installed at community fairs, county fairs, 



INSTRUCTION BOOTHS AT FAIRS 



397 



and perhaps at state fairs where agricultural operations of many 
kinds are continually carried on during the day or days of the 




Fig. 218. — At fairs, the products should be olassifipd according to the premium list. Have 
superintendents appointed who will classify the exhibits as they are brought to the fair 

(G. S. Ellis, -Minn.) 

fair (Figs. 220 and 221). A few of the activities for such booths 
are mentioned here: 

1. Have some one testing milk and milk products, and decorate the booth 
with dairy charts, dairy pictures, and dairy equipment. 



398 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

2. Have a booth for the making of spray materials; decorate with fruit 
charts, colored pictures, specimens of insects and disease work. 

3. Have a feeds booth. Have feeds mixed at certain hours for poultry, 
dairy cows, dairy calves, and other animals. Decorate with samples of feeds, 
feed charts, including both concentrates and roughage. 

4. Have a honey booth with some one extracting honey at particular 
hours. Decorate with samples of extracted honey, comb honey, bee diseases, 
bees' wax, foundation, and bee equipment. Have hives of bees in glass frames. 

5. Have another booth showing the grafting and budding of trees. Deco- 
rate with charts and pictures of nursery work and home orchards. 

6. A booth should be occupied with one or two persons wrapping and 
packing apples in boxes. A grading and sorting table may be in the booth. 
Decorate with large pictures showing different styles of packing, and with 
charts showing market grades, and market prices. 

7. Have one booth devoted to legumes. Show spechnens, pictures, and 
charts of all the leading legumes suited to the region. Have spechnens of 
lime of different kinds. .Have charts calling attention to the benefits of legimies, 
and others showing steps in establishing certain crops. Let some one in the 
booth be treating legume seeds and soils to inoculate with bacteria. Specimens 
of roots in large glass bottles in two per cent fonnalin water should show 
nodules of many kinds of legumes. 

8. A seed-testing booth may show the steps in testing seeds by different 
methods, including corn testing as well as other kinds of seeds. A few charts 
should call attention to the benefits of testing, to the money saved, and to 
the cost. Decorate with many pictures of successful farms. Seed selection 
and seed treating may be included here or shown separately. 

9. A poultry booth may have some one calling attention to the methods 
of culUng laying hens to get rid of the drones. Another person may be candUng 
eggs and showing people how to do it. Have in the booth grades of eggs nicely 
arranged in market cartons. Show methods of packing eggs, kinds of egg cases. 
Have a chart showing how to feed for egg production; another on producing 
infertile eggs, and others on the importance of egg production. 

10. If desired, another poultry booth may have chicks with an attendant 
showing how to successfully raise incubator chicks. Line the booth with 
charts giving directions for feeding, temperature, increase in weights, compari- 
son of breeds, and numbers raised by artificial and natural methods. 

Harvest Picnics or Fall Festivals. — In the latter part of the 
summer or early fall, farming communities should hold picnics, 
and have programs suited to their vocation. Agricultural plays 
may be presented by young people.^ Demonstrations may be 
given on making lime-sulfur, making Bordeaux mixture, making 
dry mash for poultry, and doing many other agricultural 
things which would be of interest to all. Let ten or twenty of 
these things be definitely planned and practiced by students, or 
others assigned to the topics. This kind of program will interest 
the people much more than political speeches or other set speeches 
from a platform. 

2 A few agricultural plays have been issued as Minn. Ext. Bulletins. Write 
to the U. S. Bu. of Ed. for gardening play. 



GRADUATING EXERCISES OF STUDENTS 



399 







F,o. 219.-The instructor in agriculture, thr.,u^l, Ihe fans, and ^e work of h^ st^^^^^^^^^^ 
should standardize the products of the region Here are f'S^t standard varieties se^^^^^ 
from the local fair according to variety characteristics Left «^ "™°: E|{'^.„YX;w Y^^^^^ 
Russet, Green Mountain. Right column: King Cobbler, Burbank, Kuial JNew lorKe 

(B. M. Gile, Minn.) 

Graduating Exercises of Students in Agriculture.— There are 
many practical and useful topics which would interest the people 



400 



HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 



who attend coniiiicncement exercises in rural districts or in cities 
supported largely by the surrounding farms. Let students grad- 
uating from the agricultural department take part in the graduat- 
ing exercises. Each student may be allowed to use five or ten 




Fig. 220. — Agricultural exhibit at county fair. The course of study is given a conspicuous 
place. (Wm. C. Brown.) 




Fio. 221. — Models of schools make good features at fairs. Left, the background of the 

exhibit is a reproduction of the front of the school building, and a silver cup was awarded. 

(H. N. Looniis, Mass.) Right, model of the grounds and buildings of consolidated school, 

awarded a prize at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. (Fred Grafelman.) 

minutes for the presentation of one toi)ic well prepared in ad- 
vance. He should have the necessary apparatus and illustrative 
material to make a brief demonstration showing a valuable 
lesson in agriculture. His discussion should be informal after 
careful preparation. 



TOPICS FOR COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES 



401 



A feature of the closing week may be a school play ^ or a 
school pageant (Fig. 222). 

Topics for Agricultural Commencement Exercises. — The topics 




Fig. 222. — "The old and the new" in agriculture and home life may be used as a street 
pageant on commencement day. The above are two glimpses of "the old" — the old-fash- 
ioned wooden hay rake, and the o.\ team followed by the hand cradle for cutting wheat. 
(Angehne Wood, Alfred, N. Y.) 

suggested here are taken from programs which have been rendered 
on such occasions by high school graduates. 

1. The making of " Self -boiled Lime-sulfur." The student may have the 
lime, sulfur, water, and necessary utensils. He should start the lune to slacking 
just before he is called upon for his part of the program. This is brought in 
by an assistant. Then he takes the sulfur, making his discussion as he goes 
along. He may tell something of the uses of lime-sulfur and how much is 
saved by making the material at home. 

2. "Making Bordeaux Mixture." The student may start with the two 
stock solutions, lime and blue vitriol. He may show how to dilute each of the 

^ Write to Univ. of Minn., Ext. Div., for play "Back to the Farm"; to Cor- 
nell Univ. for Lesson 153, Country Life Series; and to N. D. Agr. College for 
"Public Programs," No. 122. 

26 



402 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

stock solutions and then call on an assistant to help pour these together into 
a third vessel, explaining as this is done. If glass vessels are used, the resulting 
color will show nicely throughout a large audience. He should explain how 
the stock solutions are made, and how they may be kept for a long period 
ready for use when tlae Bordeaux is needed. The uses of the mixture may also 
be included in his topic. 

3. "The Home Mixing of Fertilizers." The student should give prices 
of several materials which he has presented, such as acid phosphate, nitrate of 
soda, and sulfate of potash. He should show the fonuula which he is striving 
to obtain and how much material of each of these kinds is required in the 
mixture to make this formula. He should actually mix the ingredients together 
on a large tray prepared for this purpose on the floor. This may be carried 
away after his number. Let him give the arguments in favor of the home 
mixing of fertilizers. 

4. "A Lesson in Culling Poultry." Have a number of hens in a coop ready 
for this exercise. As the points in the cuUing card are enumerated by the stu- 
dent, he may handle the birds and ex-plain each point briefly. If time is limited, 
let only the chief points be considered. 

5. "The Production of Sterile Eggs." Let the student have a nimiber of 
eggs present and show how they are candled. He may call attention to eggs 
which have developed the embryo after several days in hot weather. He 
should explain the appearance of each and the effects of such germs dying or 
growing in the egg. He may give results of trials showing that hens lay as 
many sterile eggs as they would if fertile. He should tell what the losses are 
from fertile eggs and show the saving to farmers by selHng or killing the roosters 
in their flocks after the breeding season. 

6. "The Judging of Poultry." Let one or more birds of the same or differ- 
ent breeds be judged before the audience according to the standard score card. 

7. "Treating Oats for Smut." Have a peck or so of oats and let them be 
treated with formahn solution in the presence of the audience. Explanation 
should be given of the benefits, variation in methods, and cost. 

8. "Treating Potatoes to Prevent Scab." Use the corrosive sublimate 
or fomiahn method and give the benefits. He should show scabby potatoes 
and tell of the serious losses from this disease. 

9. "Selecting Seed Corn." Let a bushel or more of ears be ready for use 
in this exercise. The student may sort them over and pick out the best from 
the lot. He may explain the importance of selecting the corn in the field and 
the importance of sorting it well afterwards. Then let him run over rapidly 
aU points considered in selecting the best. 

10. "Seed Testing." This exercise may be confined to testing by the 
rag-doll method, the sawdust box, or any other method. There should be 
several lots of seeds showing different stages in the method. He may go 
through the process of putting seeds into the tester; then another lot to show 
the tester in the middle stage of its running; then another lot to show the final 
results of the test. The advantages of testing may be mentioned. 

11. "Treating Chickens for Lice." 

12. "Feeding Baby Chicks." 

13. "Running an Incubator." 

14. "Testing Eggs in an Incubator." 

15. "Plumping Dressed Broilers or Fowls for Market." 

16. "Packing Dres.sed Poultry in Boxes for Market." 

17. "Sorting and Packing Apples or Peaches for Market." 

18. "Wrapping and Packing Apples in Boxes." 

19. "Grafting and Budding of Fruit Trees." 

20. "Making Grafting Wax." 

21. "Judging the Ages of Horses." 



ORGANIZING FOR FARMERS' INSTITUTE WORK 403 

22. "Testing of Milk." 

23. "Pruning Young Fruit Trees." 

24. "A Lesson in Pruning Old Trees." 

25. "Liming of Soils." "^ 

26. "Inoculation of Legume Seeds." 

27. "The Feet of a Horse." 

Farmers' Institutes. — Local farmers' meetings and perhaps 
those of more general scope should be planned by the agricultural 
department in high schools, consoUdated schools, and by local 
rural schools. Probably the least that can be expected from even 
the smaller rural schools is to have a few farmers' meetings planned 
for the winter season. 

High schools should plan to hold a number of community 
meetings in different neighborhoods of the region. These may be 
planned to run through the winter, if not throughout the year. 
Programs for these meetings should be planned by the agricultural 
school working in unison with committee members in each of 
the communities. 

Organizing for Farmers' Institute Work. — Let each of the 
communities be organized into a community club, Chautauqua 
Associations, or any name which they may desire to use. Some- 
times these are branches of local units, of state granges, or of 
farmers' unions. 

The agricultural teacher and his students should work among 
these neighborhood organizations. They may appear on the pro- 
gram from time to time, but most of the work on the program 
should be by the local people themselves. Endeavor to teach 
people how to conduct their own programs without assistance 
from the school. Do not allow them to make up programs of long 
set speeches. It is better to have the programs filled with discus- 
sions in the form of round tables. Have demonstrations given by 
farmers who can show how they have done certain things. Try 
to discover people in the region who can tell how they have done 
certain things on their farms. These may be placed on programs 
in other coimiiunities until they make the rounds. For example, 
if one man is successful in gro'wang strawberries by a certain 
method, let Mm explain to one of the communities how he does it. 
The instructor may question him and bring out many points in 
the discussion which would otherwise be omitted and will incident- 
ally be coaching him for a better presentation next time. This 
member will later appear on other community programs with the 
same subject. Another farmer may have been very successful in 



404 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

the management of market garden crops, and is induced to appear 
on one or more programs of the winter. 

The winter has coached many farmers to prepare some one 
topic very well and present it at local farmers' institutes. Bulletins 
were placed in their hands to aid them in formulating their thoughts 
on the subject with which they had had much experience. The 
people are always better satisfied with talks and demonstrations 
by real farmers than they are with discussions from others. Six 
or eight topics presented by as many good farmers, and each taken 
to a number of neighborhoods will make a good winter's program 
for a whole county. 

Rural Leadership. — Each of the farmers who has betni trained 
as were those before described will become a (;omnnmity leader. 
He has been made to face audiences enough to be willing to speak 
to his own people. He has seen the backward characteristics of 
people in other communities and will try to meet such defects. 
He may be willing to aid in bringing out other neighbors who 
have succeeded in certain kinds of farming. 

Let students of the school be induced to select suitable leaders 
from the community. They can also by questioning help to de- 
velop certain topics in the minds of men who have made successes 
in other farm operations. In other words, they may help train 
local speakers by showing them that they know enough to present 
their methods of doing things. They can put the proper bulletins 
into the hands of those who are to appear on the programs. They 
can act on program committees. They can be taught to run 
lantern slides or moving picture machines for use in their own 
neighborhood and in others. 

Short Courses at Agricultural Schools. — High school depart- 
ments of agriculture or special agricultural schools should from 
time to time, or at regular intervals, plan and announce short 
courses for farmers of the region. These short courses may be 
devoted to special topics, as: (1) Poultry, (2) gardening, (3) fruit 
growing, (4) dairying, (5) bee-keeping, (6) apple packing, (7) field 
crops, (8) corn, (9) potatoes, (10) swine, (11) beef production, 
(12) sheep. 

The length of such short courses varies from one week to several 
weeks. One of the chief factors in determining the length of any 
short course is the amount of assistance which the instructor is 
able to secure for the work. He may in some cases be able to use 
farmers of the region or from other sections of the state or county. 



COOPERATIVE FARMERS' ORGANIZATION 405 

with or without compensation. Specialists from colleges and de- 
partments of agriculture elsewhere are sometimes engaged. His 
own students are often used in giving special demonstrations, as 
in judging corn, making spray mixtures, mixing feeds and forti- 
lizers, and culling and judging stock. If students are used in such 
exercises during the week or two, while the short course is in prog- 
ress, they may gain sufficient training to amply compensate for loss 
of class work during the time. 

Read again the suggestions regarding short-course work in 
Chapters V to XII. 

Boys' Agricultural Camps. — During the summer season some 
agricultural departments and schools have conducted boys' camps 
at appropriate places in their counties. The encampments are 
made for a few days or for a week or two at a time. Certain hours 
of the day are set for reports and accounts of the project work of 
the students. Prospective students are invited to participate in 
the encampment. If the time is near the end of the vacation 
season, results of projects may be given. Much of the time at 
the encampment is used in recreation, contests, games, story 
telling, reading, and other entertaimnent. Perhaps the environ- 
ment will furnish some opportunity for swimming, fishing, and 
other water sports. In many cases such encampments are held 
on the grounds of the local fair association, or in public parks, or 
in picnic groves, or on the private grounds of some farmer. 

The Boy Scout spirit should pervade all the elements which 
go to make up a successful boys' agricultural camp meeting. Read 
over requirements for Boy Scout work, the pledge, and the stand- 
ard. Then try to maintain this high ideal. If the right spirit is 
not secured, the boys' camp may be worse than useless. Good 
leadership counts for much in their success. 

Cooperative Farmers' Organizations. — Instructors in agriculture 
often find it their duty to outline plans for cooperative endeavor 
among farmers. They should be able to explain the advantages 
of such organizations for various enterprises. They should also 
be able to point out the dangers which will confront them. They 
should be able to formulate plans; tell how various organizations 
have proceeded; tell how capital is apportioned among members; 
give constitution and by-laws; describe duties of certain officials 
and explain the division of responsibility. Students preparing to 
lead farmers in such matters should read accounts of the work of 
cooperative organizations of other kinds. They should visit as 



406 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

many of these as possible and consult with officials regarding the 
details of their work. They should send for copies of constitutions 
and by-laws. They should study both successes and failures. 

Among the cooperative enterprises of farmers should be men- 
tioned butter factories, milk depots, cheese factories, potato 
marketing, fruit marketing, onion and other produce marketing, 
nut marketing, laundries, ice plants, lighting plants, bakeries, 
marketing of poultry products, ownership of pure-bred sires of 
any class of animals, ownership of farm engines or other machinery, 
purchasing coal, seed, tools, feed, and household supplies. 

Farm Demonstrations. — The agricultural departments of schools 
often conduct farm demonstrations on farms of the region. These 
demonstrations may consist of gromng some new crop as it should 
be grown, growing some old crop in a better way, the feeding or 
care of animals more successfully, the maintenance of a dirt road, 
the improvement of a farm, or any ether activity which falls 
within the scope of the school work. Such demonstrations may 
be given on the farms of students who attend the school or upon 
other farms which the instructor can easily visit while on his 
trips doing other work in the community. 

Agricultural demonstration work is so well known that its 
benefits need not be mentioned here. Community meetings should 
be called to visit the farms where these demonstrations are con- 
ducted. These meetings may be held either during the progress 
of the demonstration or near its close. Some special inducement 
should be suggested when neighbors are called to such meetings. 
The call should be worded carefully. Perhaps some product of 
the demonstration may be offered to each visitor — samples of 
seed, samples of tubers, samples of hay or other crojDS. Refresh- 
ments may be offered or a community picnic may be held at the 
place. An attractive program may induce them to come. 

Agricultural Campaigns in the Region. — Recently the Ameri- 
(;an people have learned to accomplish many things by brief intense 
public movements. The agricultural instructor may find it pos- 
sible to succeed in starting reforms among the farmers of his region 
by selecting a few features and making campaigns on these until 
all farmers have learned the new methods involved and perhaps 
have succeeded well "with them. A few that have been used by 
agricultural teachers are here mentioned. 

In a dairy region each dairyman was induced to grow two 
acres or more of alfalfa. A better seed corn campaign reformed 



REASONS FOR USING THE PRESS 407 

the corn growing of one district. Every farmer was induced to 
try better seed corn on all or part of his field. A liming campaign 
became very popular in a region where clover growing had become 
nearly extinct. In a number of cases milk-increase has been the 
slogan among dairy farmers. They have in many cases formed 
cooperative creameries. Peach planting and apple planting cam- 
paigns have been organized with great success. Cooperative fruit 
growers' associations often help in such campaigns. 

In a number of counties campaigns have been pushed for the 
growing of pure-bred poultry. These are often started among 
children of rural schools, and then are taken up by older people. 
"Better brood mares and more brood mares" formed the slogan 
in regions where farmers were formerly buying their work horses 
from outside. Better beef sires have been introduced in a number 
of regions through the organization of farmers for that purpose. 
"Better dairy heifers" is a good slogan to help induce dairymen 
to use better sires. Agricultural instructors should plan campaigns 
to suit the region. In addition to those already suggested a few 
others are proposed: A trial of cross harromng of corn on everj^ 
farm; field selection of seed by every grower of cotton, corn, or 
other important field crop; a septic tank on at least one farm of 
every neighborhood; modern water systems on ten farms; a pure- 
bred boar available to every farm; oetter marketing of farm prod- 
ucts of all kinds. Leaders of such movements should enlist the 
aid of local organizations and of special committees. 

The Use of the Press.* — Schools teaching agriculture should 
make good use of the local press of the region. Newspapers that 
circulate among farmers should devote considerable space each 
issue to agricultural topics. The school can aid materially in 
supplying suitable matter for publication in local papers, in large 
daihes of the nearest cities which often have agricultural depart- 
ments. The school can make the preparation of articles for publi- 
cation a part of the school work. 

Reasons for Using the Press. — Any teacher of agriculture 
should study his local conditions and see if any of the following 
reasons or others can appl3^ If he can find a good reason for 
making use of the local press, he should go to the publisher or 
editor of one or more of the papers in his locality or those in near 
by places. Give them arguments for using agricultural matter 
from time to time. If the editor is willing to use suitable material, 

^ See also Chapter XVI, p. 332. 



408 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

the school should offer to help supply it. Among the reasons 
which may be in the teacher's mind are the following: 

1. Articles regarding modern agriculture will always help farmers to be 
more interested and more successful in their work. 

2. Information regarding special operations which ought to be carried on 
by the fanners of the region can be brought to their attention through the 
press, particularly if farmers get in the habit of looking to the press for agri- 
cultural suggestions. These may be seasonal suggestions, as the starting of 
hotbeds, the protection of fruit blossoms from frost, the culling of the pullets 
for future laying flocks, the preparation of winter quarters for laying hens, 
the breeding season for hot-house lambs. 

3. Agricultural campaigns of various kinds' can be conducted much better 
by the use of the press. 

4. The accomphshments of cooperative efforts are more successful if the 
press aids in conducting them. F'or example, more farmers can be induced 
to raise certain crops if they are assured of a fine market for these crops before 
they are planted. The promotion of canneries and the growing of crops for 
such canneries is an example of this. 

5. The promotion of cooperative associations for marketing various kinds 
of faiTn products is more easily accomplished when much publicity is given 
the movement. 

6. The school work which should be one of the leading endeavors of 
any community maj' be kept in the minds of the people better by the use of 
the press. 

7. The successes of individual farmers who have been progressive in special 
types of fanning may be spread to other farms of the region by means of 
such publicity. 

8. The demonstrations conducted on farms of the region may be an- 
nounced and kept in the minds of the public so that they will more closely 
watch the progress and results of the work. 

9. The successful home projects of individual students should be given 
publicity. 

10. Fanners who as a class are lonely in their agricultiu'al thought are 
induced to read much more agricultural matter if it is brought to them regu- 
larly in their home papers. 

11. Farmers are induced to keep in touch with things that other farmers 
are doing. 

12. They get new ideas of up-to-date methods. 

13. If publishers run agricultural departments, they will find it possible 
to pubhsh also rehable advertisements of implements, fertilizers, feed, stock, 
and poultry. 

14. Farmers may be warned against fraudulent schemes of unscrupulous 
agents. 

15. The papers may be used to announce agricultural meetings, stock 
fairs, and other coimnunity gatherings. 

1(). Farmers may get reports of experiments of many experiment stations, 
and will learn of the pubUcation of new bulletins and other Uterature for 
farmem. 

Kinds of Material which the School can Furnish the Press. — In 

reading over the foregoing reasons for pvil)lishing agricultural 
matter in the press, any one may naturally infer what kinds of 
material riiay be supplied to the press by the school. It may be 



ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE PRESS 409 

worth while here to mention a number of the most important kinds 
of matter which the school can easily prepare for publication. 

1. Occasional reports of experiments or demonstrations conducted b}' 
students and instructors on the school grounds or in laboratory work. 

2. Announcements of programs of daily work, of special exercises, of 
short courses, of farmers' institutes, of boys and girls' club work, of programs 
of literary societies in school, of graduating exercises of agricultural classes. 

3. Students can prepare articles on special topics for pubhcation, and will 
do it better than if they are to be consigned to a waste-basket. This may be 
for credit in EngUsh or in agriculture. 

4. Complete final reports of projects may be chosen for pubhcation. 

5. Finanacial statements showing cost of production in home projects. 

6. The best reports written by students of field trips or visits to neigh- 
boring fanns, of visits to packing houses, cold storage plants, fertihzer factories, 
feed mills, implement establishments, tractor demonstrations. 

7. Accounts written by students of special operations on their farms, as 
the description of the filling of a silo, including the detailed items of cost. 
Another example would be an account of the methods and cost of harvesting 
a crop of any kind, as potatoes, or apples. 

8. At the beginning of the year, let a complete list of all the projects 
started by students on their home places be published. 

9. From time to time give a report of the progress of each of the projects 
of students. 

10. PubHsh lists of demonstrations in progress on farms of the region, if 
these are under the supervision of the instructor or some other agent. 

11. Call attention to particular new crops on various farms so that others 
can see their growth and learn methods of producing them. 

12. The school may serve as a central bureau of information and each 
student may write items of interest regarding valuable points in farming 
which occur on their own farms or those of neighbors. Thus many items of 
local interest that are worthy of emulation will come to the- pubUc eye — the 
building of good barns, the unprovement of home grounds, the starting of 
new methods, the purchasing of pure-bred cattle or other livestock, the pro- 
duction of more dairy products, the high records in poultry yards, the fine 
yields of certain fields, the securing of better prices for produce. 

13. Students and instructors may write reports of fairs, giving winners of 
premiums in all departments of agriculture. Describe booths. Describe 
products shown at fairs. Make fists of exhibits in various departments. 
Praise the best things seen there. 

Illustrations for the Press.^ — The instructor, or some of his 
students with a camera, may obtain many valuable illustrations 
from the farms of the region which may be used to illustrate the 
foregoing matter. Many publishers are glad to make use of illus- 
trations in connection with the matter furnished them. Take 
pictures of operations at school showing the work of students in 
laboratories, the growing of crops, or the practice work on the land 
laboratory of the school. When the class is taken to various farms 
of the region as suggested in a number of places of this volume, 
photographs may be taken of farm operations, of valuable stock, 

* See also Chapter XVI. 



410 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

of classes in various exercises on these farms, of good silos, barns, 
dairy houses, poultry yards, good machinery at work, good roads, 
well-kept yards, and many other views. 

Such views will speak louder than words. Many papers, even 
those of a local nature, often circulate widely in other regions. 
The pictures, with suitable reading matter accompanying them, 
will attract attention to agricultural enterprises at home. The 
whole region will thus be benefited by the use of good pictures. 

In connection with special articles and some of the other matter 
furnished for pul^lication, students may prepare charts showing 
statistics in graphic form. They may make drawings of simple 
buildings showing how to build them. Simple farm devices and 
apparatus may be easily illustrated by simple drawings. The 
structure of septic tanks, the installation of irrigation systems, the 
contour line in field terracing all furnish subjects for drawings. 

Characteristics of Good Newspaper Articles. — It is important 
that instructors having students writing matter for pul)lication 
should teach them to remember that writings are to be scrutinized 
by the public eye, and that they must strive to be as perfect as 
possible in expression and not try to exhibit characteristics which 
would be open to criticism. Let the following points be kept 
uppermost in their minds: 

Make the language simple and plain without the use of many 
unusual terms. In the choice of words, use the short simple Anglo- 
Saxon rather than long or complex words. 

Avoid long complex or otherwise, involved sentences. Do not 
try to be flowerj^ Simple, plain statements are good English. 

Make short paragraphs rather than long ones. Let each idea 
be expressed briefly, and if it needs repeating, do this as adroitly 
as possible. 

Tell many things to the reader without seeming to tell an3i,hing. 
This can be done by assuming that some few need reminding of 
certain things that the writer states. 

Prepare short articles rather than long ones. A long article 
often fails in securing many readers. 

Never prepare articles for publication on agricultural topics 
unless they are suited to the season, or have some seasonal aspect. 
An article on care of sheep at lambing time should appear before 
that time instead of after it. 

Use good headings. Always write the headings instead of 
leaving it for the editor to do. Study the style of the type used 



HIGH-SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS 411 

by the paper which is to piibhsh the article. Use- the proper under- 
hnes of the headings to show the style you expect to have used. 
If the paper uses center headings in the articles for sub-headings, 
follow that style in preparing the article. If side headings are 
printed by the paper, prepare your article with side headings 
instead of center headings. Use a number of these sub-headings 
for the different paragraphs or some of them. This is most impor- 
tant for the longer articles. 

When students prepare important articles on special topics 
their names should usually be published with them. There are 
two styles used for this. See which of these is usually followed by 
your paper. Is the name of the writer placed under the main 
heading of the article or is it placed at the close of the article? 
The first is preferable if the editor will allow it. 

Never allow students to offer for publication matter which 
has not been read and criticized by the teacher of agriculture, or 
the teacher of English, or both. 

Avoid silly allusions to local school happenings which will 
not be understood clearly and fully by the public at large. Avoid 
efforts at "smartness" by students in writing for the public press. 
Nothing will hurt the school more in the eyes of a tax-pa3dng 
pubhc than this. 

School Papers. — Colleges of agriculture, and perhaps other 
colleges having agricultural departments, often find it advisable 
to publish periodicals of an agricultural nature. Much of what 
has been said in the preceding pages applies to matter in 
these periodicals. 

There are two types of such school or college publications 
found: those which are purely of an educational nature and con- 
tain no advertising material. These are issued under the act of 
Congress of July 16, 1894. They must be published at least four 
times a year, and are not required to have a list of paid subscribers. 

The other form of publication is issued under the law governing 
newspapers and magazines. They contain advertising matter and 
are required to have a list of paid subscribers. 

The mailing rates for these publications are the same, i.e., 
one cent per pound. This is known as second-class mail matter. 
Regulations regarding either of these types of publication may be 
obtained from the nearest post-office. 

High School Publications. — ^Wlien high schools find it impos- 
sible to make good use of the local press of the region they some- 



412 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

times start school periodicals. These are sometimes published in 
mimeograph form and distributed to the students and their fami- 
lies at a nominal cost. In other cases they are printed and adver- 
tisements are solicited to help meet the expenses of publication. 
In villages and small cities the burden upon advertisers is usually 
a heavy one, and the resulting effect among business men is not a 
wholesome one. If the school is very large and a very worthy pub- 
lication is issued to a large list of subscribers, the advertising is 
really worth while and the effect of issuing the paper is a good one. 
A common defect of high-school papers is that they often have 
unwholesome and objectionable features such as mean, silly, 
or opprobrious allusions to students, teachers, occurrences at 
school or in the community. These are not worthy of publica- 
tion. The paper in printing them debases itself and should not 
continue to use its columns for such trash. Such things waste the 
time of students who read them as well as those who write them. 
Another common objection to issuing periodicals managed by 
high school students is that they are required to use much of their 
time in making the publication pay for itself. Committees are 
required to solicit subscriptions, solicit advertisements, mail 
copies to subscribers, and maintain departments which are of 
little use in the field of agriculture or in other departments 
of education. 

EXERCISES 

1. Make a plan for a social room for the community to use at the agricul- 
tural school, or high school. List its equipment. 

2. Make plans for a good shed or barn where animals from the commimity 
may be temporarily cared for at the school, while they are being studied by 
classes. Give equipment necessary for such quarters. 

3. Make a list of ten kinds of trips which agricultural students in your 
state could take to make use of the community in their school work. 

4. Outline a trip near yoiu- school for an exercise in treating swine for 
cholera. 

5. Describe the details of an extension trij) in the study of sheep at lamb- 
ing time. 

6. Outline a community trip for studying hogs which have died from 
cholera. Include post-mortem examinations. 

7. Outline a half-day's exercise for your class in planning and beautifying 
the home grounds of a neighboring farm. 

8. Outline a plan for cooperating with rural schools near you, to aid them 
in their agricultural work. 

9. Write a premium list for a small community fair. 

10. Participate in soliciting premiums for a community fair. 

11. Erect a model instruction booth for a community fair. This may be 
done either at the school or elsewhere. 

12. Plan the details of at least three topics for the agricultural 
commencement. 



QUESTIONS 413 

13. Write a program for a model farmers' institute, Vith sections for 
men and women, to cover three sessions, forenoon, afternoon, and evening. 

14. Write a program for a fruit growers' short course, covering three 
days; another for dairying; another for bee-keeping; another for animal hus- 
bandry; another for poultry. 

15. Obtain, or write, a constitution and by-laws for use of a cooperative 
farmers' organization of some kind. 

16. Plan the details of some important agricultural campaign, for your 
region. Tell how you would obtain workers and prepare suitable outlines 
for their guidance in the campaign. 

17. Prepare a model article for use in the local paper which will be of 
benefit both to your school and to the community. Have your article pub- 
lished in the paper. 

18. Prepare a similar article with illustrations and have it published 
likewise. 

19. Prepare a list of many ways in which yotu- students can help in farmers' 
institutes, short courses, and community club work. 

QUESTIONS 

1. Why should the school and the commimity be closelj' linked together? 

Have you seen examples of this? 

2. Give arguments in favor of a social room in the school. 

3. How would you plan to test seed corn for the farmers of the community? 

4. How would you obtain ear corn from farmers for school exercises? 

5. How would you obtain legume seeds from farmsrs to be inoculated at 

the school? 

6. W^hy should the school own a seed cleaner? 

7. To what extent should fanners be allowed to make use of it? 

8. Would you offer to treat small grains for smut for farmers of the com- 

munity? Why? 

9. Would you treat potatoes to prevent scab? Why? 

10. Would you undertake to have your students graft scions for fanners of 

the region? Why? 

11. How could you manage exercises in the propagation of strawberries or 

other perennial herbs that are found in the community? 

12. How would you arrange for a fruit-judging exercise wfth fruit supplied 

by farmers? 

13. How would you take advantage of specimens of insects and their work 

or of plant diseases brought to your school? 

14. How can you make school lessons concerning the noxious weeds of the 

region? 

15. What machinery of your region might be repaired at the school shop 

with advantage to the class? 
1(). Why should the school aid farmers in planning their farm buildings? 
17. Why should the school offer to test milk from cows of the region? 
IS. How would you manage the Uvestock of the region for use of your pupils 

in the school? 
IV). What are the two main purposes for attempting to extend the activity 

of the school throughout the region? 

20. Give examples of poultry lessons you coidd teach to your students out 

in the community. 

21. Give examples of dairying lessons you could best give to your pupils by 

taking them to dairy farms. 

22. Give examples of similar extension work with swine. 

23. Describe an extension trip for work with sheep. 



414 HOW TO CONDUCT COMMUNITY WORK 

24. Describe an extension trip to a beef cattle farm. 

25. Give lessons to be learned on a farm where pure bred horses are raised. 

26. Give Ust of materials that you might secure at a post-mortem examination 

from a hor.se, a sheep, a cow. 

27. How would you conduct a lesson in orchard pruning, on a nearby farm? 

28. In orchard spraying? 

29. Suggest some community lessons in home gardening. 

30. How could you help your community in landscape gardening? 

31. How could you help your community in the introduction of new plants? 

32. Describe a community exercise in terracing; in land drainage. 

33. Suggest some other community work with soils and tillage of soils. 

34. Suggest some community work in farm mechanics. 

35. Why should the agricultural department of a high-school endeavor to 

cooperate with other small schools of the region in the community work? 

36. Give reasons for holding community fairs. 

37. Describe a ninnber of educational booths for agricultural fairs. 

38. Why should agriculture students give demonstrations at their commence- 

ment e.xercises? 

39. Suggest several topics for such a program. 

40. Why should the agricultural school participate in planning farmers' 

institutes? 

41. Why should the agricultural school or department offer short courses in 

special lines? 

42. Give reasons for aiding in forming cooperative organizations. 

43. Give a list of agricultural drives, or campaigns, which would be of use 

in your state. 

44. Give reasons why the agricultural school should use the local press. 

45. Give a hst of materials which the school can furnish the press. 

46. Give the characteristics of good newspaper articles of this kind. 

47. Give your reasons for and against starting school papers. 



APPENDIX 

TEXTBOOKS FOR HIGH SCHOOLS 

The following books, arranged by subjects, are those which are considered 
most worthy of consideration for use as regular textbooks in the courses men- 
tioned, when offered as vocational courses in high schools. As other books 
are published from time to time the recommended Ust may need to be varied. 
In some states miiform lists for all the schools are adopted and are to be fol- 
lowed. This list does not pretend to include all the reference books for these 
courses. 

Field Crops or Plant Life, Usually First Year. — Davis' Productive Plant Hus- 
bandry; Montgomery's Productive Farm Crops; Duggar's Southern Field Crops; Wilson and 
Warburton's Field Crops; Livingston's Field Crop Production. 

Ani.mal Husbandry-. — Harper's Animal Husbandry for Schools; Harper's Manual of 
Farm Animals; Plumb"s Beginnings in Animal Husbandry; Tormey and Lowry's Animal 
Husbandry ('-2 yr.). 

Dairying. — Washburn's Productive Dairy Husbandry; Eckles and Warren's Dairy 
Farming. 

Poultry Husbandry. — Lewis' Productive Poultry Husbandry; Lewis' Poultry Keep- 
ing; Lippincott's Poultry Production. 

Feeds and Feeding. — Woll's Productive Feeding of Farm Animals; Henry and Mor- 
rison's Feeds and Feeding (Abridged). 

Horticulture. — Davis' Horticulture; Hood's Horticulture. 

Small Fruits. — Sears' Productive Small Fruits. 

Gardening. — Davis' School and Home Gardening; Lloyd Productive Vegetable Gar- 
dening; Watts' Vegetable Gardening (for trucking regions). 

Soils. — Wier's Productive Soils (Abridged Ed.); Whitson and Walster's Soils and 
Soil Fertihty. 

Orcharding. — Sears' Productive Orcharding; Bailey's Principles of Fruit Growing. 

Farm Mechanics and Engineering. — Davidson's Farm Engineering, Ramsower's 
Equipment for the Farm and the Farmstead. 

Farm Management. — Boss' Farm Management; Warren's Farm Management. 

LIST OF BOOKS AND BULLETINS 

The following State Departments of Vocational Education have issued 
classified Usts of references and texts : 

California. — Bibliography of Agricultural' Reference Books (very full) (State LTni- 
versity, Berkeley). 

Iowa. — List of Bulletins and Circulars, classified by subjects (Ames). 

Michigan. — Agricultural Reference Library; Textbooks (Bui. 205, List of High-school 
Equipment). (Lansing.) 

Minnesota. — Books for Farmers and Farmers' Club Libraries; Books for Judging; 
Agricultural Reference Library (University Farm, St. Paul). 

Nebraska. — Text and Reference Material in Vocational Agriculture (Dept. of Voca- 
tional Agriculture, Lincoln). 

New York. — Suggested Reference Books for Vocational Agriculture (State Education 
Department, Albany). 

Texas. — Reciuired Reference Books for Vocational Agriculture (A. and M. College, 
Bryan). 

Write to the States Relations Service, Division of Agricultural Instruction, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washin^on, D. C, for Usts of Texts and 
References for Secondary Schools. Special lists are issued upon the following 
topics : 



General Agriculture. 
Agronomy. 
Animal Husbandry. 
Dairy Husbandry. 
Poultry Husbandry. 
Horticulture. 



Economic Entomology. 

Floriculture and Landscape Gardening. 

Rural Engineering. 

Laboratory Manuals in Agriculture. 

General Science. 

Agricultural Science. 

415 



416 



APPENDIX 



Write also to the last above address for lists of bulletins and volumes of 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture classified for the use' of teachers. The 
lists are issued on a number of topics: 



Agronomy. 

Animal Husbandry. 

Dairying. 

Birds and Other .•\nimals. 

Horticulture. 



Gardening. 
Rural Engineering. 
Farm ATanagement. 
Home Economies. 



LISTS OF AIDS IN TEACHING AGRICULTURE 

Send to the Division of Agricultural Instruction, States Relations Service, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for a list of each of the 
following: 

"Sources of Pictures Useful in Teaching Agriculture and Nature Study." 
"Sources of Maps, Charts, and Models." 
"Lists of Exhibits." 

Dealers in "Laboratory Equipment and Supplies." 

Bulletins and circulars on "Suggestions for Teachers in Secondary Schools." 
Sources of Projection Apparatus and Materials: Lantern slides available from private 
firms; moving picture films; projection apparatus. 
Lantern Slides with syllabi. 
List of Illustrated I^ectures. 

Write to the teacher-training institutions of your state, particularly 
those officially designated, as the Agricultural College, for the following things. 
Some of these may best be obtained from your state supervisor, whose office 
is probably at the state capital. 

List of slides and charts and films and exchanges for these. 

Project work blanks. 

Farm account blank books. 

Samples of illustrative material. 

List of firms that furnish samples and illustrative material. 

List of Livestock Breeders' Associations. 

Lists of Agricultural Journals recommended for the State. 

State course of study and list of book adoptions. 

State Library regulations and blanks. 

Detailed outlines of lessons and exercises in various subjects. 

Lists of apparatus for equipping schools. 

Project outlines. 

Pamphlets issued by the Federal Board for Vocational Education. 

Extension bulletins, farmers' bulletins, club bulletins. 



THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



Alabama. — College Station, Auburn; Cane- 
brake Station, Uniontown; Tuskogee 
Station, Tuskegee Institute. 

Alaska. — Sitka. 

Arizon.^. — Tucson. 

Arkansas. — Fayetteville. 

California. — Berkeley. 

Colorado. — Fort Collins. 

Connecticut. — State Station, New Haven; 
Storrs Station, Storrs. 

Delaware. — Newark. 

Florid.\. — Gainesville. 

Georgia. — Experiment. 

Guam. — Island of Guam. 

Hawaii. — Federal Station, Honolulu; Sugar 
Planters' Station, Honolulu. 

Idaho. — Moscow. 

Illinois. — Urbana. 

Indiana. — Lafayette. 



Iowa. — Ames. 

Kansas. — Manhattan. 

Kentucky. — Lexington. 

Louisiana. — State Station, Baton Rouge; 
Sugar Station, .\udubon Park, New- 
Orleans; North La. Station, Calhoun; 
Rice Station, Crowley. 

Maine. — Orono. 

Maryland. — College Park. 

Massachusetts. — .A.mherst. 

Michigan. — East Lansing. 

Minnesota. — University Farm. St. Paul. 

Mississippi — Agricultural College. 

Missouri. — College Station, Columbia; 
Fruit Station, Mountain Grove. 

Montana. — Bozeman. 

Nebraska. — Lincoln. 

Nevada. — Reno. 

New Hampshire. — Durham. 



APPENDIX 



4i: 



THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS (Continued); 



New Jehsey. — New Brunswick 

New Mexico. — State College. 

New York.— State Station, Geneva; Cor- 
nell Station, Ithaca. 

North Carolina. — Raleigh and West 
Raleigh. 

North Dakota. — Agricultural College. 

Ohio. — Wooster. 

Oklahoma. — Stillwater. 

Oregon. — Corvallis. 

Pennsylvania. — State College. 

Porto Rico. — Federal Station, Mayaguez; 
Insular Station, Rio Piedras. 

Rhode Island. — Kingston. 



South Carolina. — Clemson College. 

South Dakota. — Brookings. 

Tennessee. — Knoxville. 

Texas. — College Station. 

Utah. — Logan. 

Vermont. — Burlington. 

Virginia. — Blacksburg; Truck Station, 

Norfolk. 
Virgin Islands. — St. Croix. 
Washington. — Pullman. 
West Virginia. — Morgantown. 
Wisconsin. — Madison. 
Wyoming. — Laramie. 



AMERICAN LIVESTOCK RECORD ASSOCIATIONS 

Every school teaching agriculture should write to the secretary of the 
associations of those breeds of Uvestock of importance in the region. Ask for 
pamphj^ts and other literature regarding the particular breed, and also for 
blanks used in registering animals. Some of the associations can furnish fine 
pictures of noted animals of their breeds. These may be mounted on wall cards, 
as framed, or used in making charts. Some of them can supply charts. A few 
of the associations have sets of lantern slides or fihiis to loan to schools. 

Get a revised Hst of these associations and also a list of state and county 
livestock associations by writing to the animal husbandry department of your 
State Agricultural College. 

Horses 



Arabian Horse Club of Am., 1729 "G" 

Street N. W., Washington, D. C. 
Am. Assn. of Importers and Breeders of 

Belgian Draft Horses, Wabash, Ind. 
Cleveland Bay Society of Am., Oconomo- 

woc, Wis. 
Am. Clydesdale Assn., Union Stock Yards, 

Chicago. 
French Coach Horse Society of Am., Oak 

Park, 111. 
National French Draft Horse Assn. of Am., 

Fairfield, Iowa. 
German, Hanoverian and Oldenburg Coach 

Horse Assn. of Am., Lafayette, Ind. 
Am. Hackney Horse Soc, Hempstead, L. I., 

N. Y. 



Am. Morgan Register Assn., Middlebury, Vt. 

Percheron Society of Am., Union Stock 
Yards, Chicago. 

Am. Breeders' and Importers' Percheron 
Registry Co., Plainfield, Ohio. 

Am. Saddle Horse Breeders' Assn., Law- 
renceburg, Ky. 

Am. Shetland Pony Club, Lafayette, Ind. 

Am. Shire Horse Assn., Wenona, 111. 

Am. Suffolk Horse Assn., DeKalb, 111. 
■ Am. Trotting Register Assn., 137 South 
Ashland Ave., Chicago. 

Jockey Club, 6-8 East 46th Street, New 
York, N. Y. 

Welsh Pony and Cob Society of Am., La- 
fayette, Ind. 



Jacks and Jennets 
Am. Breeders' .\ssn. of Jacks and Jennets, I Standard Jack and Jonnet Registry of Am 
Columbia, Tenn. | Kansas City, Mo. 



Cattle 



Am. Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Assn., Union 
Stock Yards, Chicago. 

Ayrshire Breeders' Assn., Brandon, Vt. 

Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders' Assn., Beloit, 
Wis. 

Am. Devon Cattle Club, Charlottesville, Va. 

Dutch Belted Cattle Assn. of Am., Marks- 
boro, N. J. 

American Galloway Breeders' Assn., Inde- 
pendence, Mo. , 

Am. Guernsey Cattle Club, Peterboro, N. H. 

American Hereford Cattle Breeders' Assn., 
Kansas City, Mo. 

Holstein-Friesian Assn. of Am., Brattle- 
boro, Vt. 



27 



Am. Jersey Cattle Club, 324 West 23d Street, 
New York, N. Y. 

Am. Kerry and Dexter Cattle Club, Colum- 
bus, Ohio. 

Polled Durham Breeders' Assn., Greenville, 
Ohio. 

Am. Polled Hereford Breeders' Assn., Des 
Moines, Iowa. 

Red Polled Cattle Club of Am., Gotham, 
Wis. 

Am. Shorthorn Breeders' Assn., Union Stock 
Yards, Chicago. 

Am. Dairy Shorthorn Cattle Club, Orange- 
ville, Ohio. 

Am. Polled Durham Breeders' Assn., In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 



418 



APPENDIX 

Sheep 



Am. Cheviot Sheep Society, Fayetteville, 
N. Y. 

Am. Cotswold Registry Assn., Waukesha, 
Wis. 

Continental Dorset Club, Mechanicsburg, 
Ohio. 

Am. Hampshire Sheep Assn., Coldwater, 
Mich. 

Am. Leicester Breeders' Assn., Cameron, 111. 

National Lincoln Sheep Breeders' Assn., 
Charlotte, Mich. 

Am. and Delaine Merino Record Assn., Del- 
aware, Ohio. 

Dickinson Merino Sheep Record Co., New 
Berlin, Ohio. 

National Delaine Merino Sheep Breeders' 
Assn. of Washington County, Canons- 
burg, Pa. 

Standard Delaine Merino Sheep Breeders' 
Assn., Saline, Mich. 



Am. Rambouillet Sheep Breeders' Assn., 
Milford Center, Ohio. 

International Von Homeyer Rambouillet 
Club, Ann .4rbor, Mich. 

Michigan Merino Sheep Breeders' Assn., 
Ann Arbor, Mich. 

Vermont, New York and Ohio Merino Sheep 
Breeders' Assn., Delaware, Ohio. 

Am. Oxford Down Record Assn., Hamilton, 
Ohio. 

Am. Romney Breeders' Assn., Mechanics- 
burg, Ohio. 

Am. Shropshire Registry Assn., Lafayette, 
Ind. 

Am. Southdown Breeders' Assn., Spring- 
field, 111. 

Am. Tunis Sheep Breeders' Assn., Craw- 
fordsville, Ind. 



Am. Angora Coat Breeders' Assn., Lawrence, 
Kans. 



Am. Milch Goat Record Assn., Dean, Ohio. 



Hogs 



Am. Berkshire Assn., Springfield, 111. 
Am. Large Black Pig Soc, Lexington, Ky. 
Cheshire Swine Breeders' Assn., Freeville, 

N. Y. 
O. I. C. Swine Breeders' Assn., P. O. Drawer 

"U," Cleveland, Ohio. 
Chester White Record Assn., Rochester, Ind. 
Am. Duroc Jersey Swine Breeders' Assn., 

Union Stock Yards, Chicago. 
National Duroc Jersey Record Assn., 

Peoria, 111. 
Am. Hampshire Swine Record Assn., 

Peoria, 111. 
Am. Poland China Record Co., Union Stock 

Yards, Chicago. 



National Poland China Record Co., Win- 
chester, Ind. 

Standard Poland China Record Assn., 
Maryville, Mo. 

Am. Tamworth Swine Record Assn., Ann 
Arbor, Mich. 

Am. Yorkshire Club, White Bear Lake, 
Minn. 

National Mule-foot Hog Assn., Ada, Ohio. 

Mule-foot Hog Breeders' Assn., Mammoth 
Springs, Ark. 

Am. Mule-foot Hog Record Co., Columbus, 
Ohio. 



HOW TO MAKE LANTERN SLffiES BY HAND 

(J. V. Ankeney) 

It is often advisable to make lantern slides by hand in order to quickly 
present tables, diagrams, cartoons, announcements, songs, etc. The following 
are some methods which have been used by the writer and have been useful. 

Ink on Glass. — 1. Clean a glass slide and with a crow quill pen write, y)rint, 
or draw on the glass with India ink. The ink will take more readily if the dry 
finger is first rubbed over the spot on which the lettering is to be done. 

2. Special inks in a variety of colors known as lantern slide inks may be 
purchased. These may be used with clean pen on the slide. 

3. One may write directly on ground glass or mica with either pen or 
pencil. Mica sUdes withstand the heat. 

Ink or Pencil on Prepared Glass. — 1. An ordinary unexposed lantern slide 
plate may be fixed in the usual way, washed, and allowed to dry, after which 
it may be written on with either pencil or pen. This, of course, is rather costly. 

2. A 10 per cent solution of gelatin in hot water may be made and flowed 
over the glass side, allowed to dry, and be written on as above. 

3. A solution of Canada balsam in either turpentine or xylol (xylol dries 
quicker) flowed over a glass slide is more satisfactory than the gelatin solution. 



APPENDIX 419 

4. A ground glass substitute is made as follows: Sandarac, 90 gr.; mastic, 
20 gr.; ether, 2 oz.; benzole, ^ to 1^ oz. The proportion of the benzole added 
determines the grain of the matt obtained; this may be flowed over the glass 
slide. This dries in a few minutes (2 or 3), leaves a matt surface which softens 
the projected light, and takes ink and pencil well. 

On Gelatin Sheets. — -1. Sheet gelatin may be purchased in a variety of 
colorS) also clear and matt. This will take ink, pencil (on matt), and type- 
writer. For best results on a typewriter place two pieces of new carbon paper 
so that their faces touch the gelatin sheet. Type in the usual way and place 
between cover glasses with vignette matt and bind. 

2. In order to make the above idea more easily carried out several com- 
panies now make a combination gelatin sheet, carbon paper, and matt ready 
to go into the typewriter. The gelatin sheet is mounted in the usual way. 

Miscellaneous. — The simplest slide to make is that made by smoking a 
glass sUde over a candle or kerosene lamp and scratching the letters or drawing 
with a pin or other sharp instrument. 

A glass pencil or china marker's pencil may be procured from any labora- 
tory supply house or from most stationers. This may be used for writing on 
glass direct. 

The value of the above suggestions will depend upon the ingenuity of the 
user and the care exercised in executing them. 

HOW TO MAKE A HECTOGRAPH 

(J. V. Ankeney) 

Clay Hectograph. — 1. Get a shallow pan (about 1 inch deep) of a size 
slightly larger than the sheet of paper which you wish to use. 

2. Fill this cai'efully with modeUng clay or plastacine, pounding and work- 
ing into place with a straight-edge. When the surface is perfectly smooth 
add glycerine slowly until it will absorb no more. Allow to stand until all 
glycerine is absorbed. 

3. To use, write with aniline ink or dupUcator typewriter ribbon on a 
good grade of bond paper. Lay a plain sheet of paper on the pad and rub it 
smooth with a round stick or squeegee roller. This is to level the surface and 
make it smooth. Now place the prepared copy face down on the hectograph 
and rub into perfect contact. Remove in from 3 to 5 minutes. Then 
proceed by placing clean sheets one at a time on the pad and rubbing into 
contact. The length of time necessary to secure a perfect copy may be found 
by experiments. 

4. Keep a cloth moistened with glycerine over the pad when not in use. 

5. A piece of glass or a metal lid may serve as a cover to the box. 

6. To use again, wash off the surface with a moist sponge until clean. Dry 
with a rag and proceed as above. 

Gelatin Hectograph. — 1. Secure a pan a little larger than the sheet you 
wish to use. This may be a cake or bread pan or may be made of wood. 

2. Soak 2 oz. of gelatin in water over night. The surplus water should 
be poured off. Twelve or thirteen ounces of glycerine should be heated to 
about the boiling point of water, add the gelatin. Pour into the pan and prick 
all air bubbles. Let stand in a cool place until perfectly firm. Be sure pan is 
level and kept covered. 

3. Make the copy as suggested above. Moisten surface sUghtly and pro- 
ceed as above. When through using the hectograph, wash the surface with a 
moigt sponge. A few drops of oil of cloves added to gelatin acts as a preserva- 
tive during hot weather. 

Note. — Hectograph ink may be purchased from stationers and school- 
supply houses. 



420 APPENDIX 

PREPARATION FOR LABORATORY TABLE TOPS 

Here is a recipe for an inexpensive method of treating the tops of wooden 
laboratory tables. Slate is costly. Glass is easily broken. Paint is eaten off 
by acids. Two sohitions are used. The first is composed of 50 grams of copper 
sulfate and 50 grams of potassium chlorate, the two being boiled in 400 grams 
of water. This first solution is put on with a large brush while boiling hot. 
The wood must be clean and free from oil or paint so the solution will penetrate 
the surface. Apply a .second coat when dry. 

The second solution is made by dissolving 60 grams of anilin oil in 80 grams 
of concentrated hydrochloric acid and diluting this to 500 grams with water. 
Apply one coat of this. After drying, the two solutions may each be appUed 
again if a darker color is desired. Wash the top later with hot soap suds and 
when dry rub in a little melted paraffin mixed with vaseline. This recipe is 
enough for three or more tables such as are described in Chapter XV. 



INDEX 



Accounting, 278 

Advantages of Minnesota classifica- 
tion, 371 
Agreement, project, 271 
Agricultural campaigns, 406 

department and community, 377 

novels, 365 

pageant, 401 

short courses, 404 
Agricultin-e garments, 12 

in high schools, 19 

in program, 17 

knowledge of, 36 

supervising, 14 

teacher, 2 

as a manager, 26 
needs of, 2 
Agronomy and other subjects, 75 

apparatus, 98 

books, 105 

bulletins, 106 

charts, 88 

class work in, 76 

demonstrations, 78 

discoveries, 104 

discussions, 104 

equipment, 95, 103 

exercises in, 78. 79, 106 

field trips in, 79, 80 

fihns, 101, 102 

how to teach, 74-108 

in town grades, 103 

journals, 106 

laboratory, 96 

materials in, 76 
storage of, 95 

meaning of, 74 

observations, 105 

photographs, 102 

pictures for, 100, 101 

projects in, 82-85 

questions, 107 

room, 96 

samples, 99 

short courses, 104 

skills. 89 

slides, 102 

supplies, 98, 100 

surveys, 85, 86 

things to do in, 105 



Aids in mechanics, 214 
Aim in engineering, 205 
farm management, 228 
horticulture, 169 
poultry, 150 
soils, 248 
Aims, less prominent, 62 
Alfalfa chart, 89 

project, topics for, 76 
Analysis of seeds, 78 
Animal disease, study, 390 
Animal husbandry, aids, 124 
aim in, 109 
apparatus, 125 
at the school, 121 
books, 131 
bulletins, 132 
chapter on, 109-133 
class work, 112 
content, 109 
discoveries, 128 
discussions, 128 
equipment, 111 
exercises, 132 
in grades, 126 
in rural schools, 126 
journals, 132 
laboratory work, 115, 118, 

119, 120 
lesson, 127 
method in, 109 
observations, 129 
questions, 133 
readings, 128 
review, 114 
sciences, 126 
short courses, 127 
skills, 130 

surveys, 121, 122, 123 
things to do in, 129 

solve, 131 
work, 17 
Animals for school, 384 

time for each, 9 
Apparatus, agricultural, 328-330 
animal husbandry, 125 
place for, 330 
small, 330 
Arrangement of books, 372 
Articles, characteristics, 410 

421 



422 



INDEX 



Assigning pupils, 15 
Assignment, the, 39 
Attitude, professional, 28 

Baby beef projects, 114 
Banquet, short course, 18 
Bar graph, 333 
Beautifying work, 194 
Bee projects, 288, 289, 294 
Beef cattle farm lessons, 389 
mechanics, 210 
trips, 389 
Beef project, 278, 291 
Belting, studying, 223 
Bird houses as shop work, 220 
Blackboard, slate, 320 

uses, 332 
Blackleg, inoculation for, 143 
Bleachers, judging, 319 
Board, chart, 334, 336 
Book, for whom, 6 

from experience, 6 

use of this, 5 
Books, agricultural, 415 
Books in animal husbandry, 131 

in agronomy, 105 

library, 365 

mechanics, 225 

on methods, 2 

poultry, 167 ' 
Booths at fairs, 396 
Bread for institute, 377 
Brooder houses, building, 152, 153 

operation, 154 
Budding on farms, 392 
Buildings, planning, 383 

ventilation of, 384 
Bulletin cases, 367 
Bulletins, dairy, 148 ) 

farm management, 246 

in animal husbandry, 132 

library, 366 

mechanics, 225 

poultry, 167 

soils, 268 
Burbank visited, 393 

Cabinets, 326, 327 
Calf project, 113 
Camera, school, 329 
Campaigns, agricultural, 406 
Camps, agricultural, 405 
Card index, 372 
Carpentry work, 222 
Cases, display, 321, 322 
glass-front, 326, 327 



Cases, made by students, 373 
Catalogues, animal husbandry, 132 

poultry, 167 
Cattle associations, 417 

exercises, 121 

judging. 111 

project, 113, 114 
Chairs, student, 325 
Characteristics of articles, 410 
Charge for machinery, 278 
Chart, bar graph, 333 

board, 334, 336 

crayon, 338 

drawing, 344, 345, 357, 359, 360 

fixative for, 338 

garden, 335 

ink, 338 

letters, 337, 341, 343 

making, 334, 340 

materials, 334 

paper and cloth, 338 

rectangular surfaces, 342 

stand, 339, 340 

uses, 334 

water system, 361 

wording, 341, 343 
Charts, agricultural, 342 

chapter on, 332-363 

farm management, 238 

for alfalfa, 89 

horticulture, 192 

many, 342 

of water heater, 210 

on field crops, 87, 88 

school, 329 

.using, 346, 348 
Chemistry in soils, 261 
Chicks, growth of, 161 
Cholera vaccination, 117 
Choosing textbooks, 20 
Citations, project topics, 273 
City grades (see Grades) 
Classification in agriculture, 15 

library, 370, 371 
Classifying library, 369-373 
Class management, effect of, 31 

meeting, 45 

organization, 15-17 

work in animal husbandry, 112 
in agronomy, 76 
in dairying, 136 
in farm management, 229- 

231 
in horticulture, 176 
in mechanics, 208, 209 
in poultry, 153, 154 



INDEX 



423 



Class work in soils, 251 
Cleaning seeds, 380 
Cloth, chart, 338 
Clubs, community, 378 
Coldframes, 175 
making, 176 
Combination of methods, 60 
Commencement exercises, 399, 401 

topics, 401 
Community and agricultural depart- 
ment, 377 
center, 376 
clubs, 378 
exercises, 412 
fairs, 395, 397 
garden trips, 392 
livestock lesson, 389 
map, 233 

problems at school, 379-385 
questions, 413 
relation to, 28 
school taken to, 385 
using in dairying, 141 
work, chapter, 376-414 
conducting, 376-414 
for shop, 216 
Concrete practice at school, 221, 222 

work, 221, 222, 224 
Conduct of recitation, 61 
Considerations, general, 36 
Containers for specimens, 97 

for soil, 251 
Content of curriculum, 7 
poultry course, 150 
soils, 248 
Conversation method, 57 
Conveyance, means of, 284 
Conveyances for trips, 59 
Cooperation, school, 394 
Cooperative organizations, 405 
Corn, field studies of, 82 
for judging, 95, 379 
projects, 281 
selection, 77, 90, 91, 94 
testing, 77 
to test, 379 
Correlations, curriculum, 14 
Cost accounting, 278 
Cotton projects, 92 

seed selection, 92 
Course in engineering, 205 
farm management, 228 
horticulture, 169, 170 
Courses of study, 416 
Co-workers, relationship to, 28 
Crayon, chart, 338 



Cream to test, 384 
Crop project, 274, 275 
Crops, order of considering, 76 
Crusade (see Campaign) 
Cupboards, 321 
Curriculum, content, 7 

correlations, 14 

organizing the, 7-15 
Cuttings, fruit, 381 

Dairy bulletins, 148 

chart, 333 

class, work, 136 

cow, drawing of, 357 

discoveries, 146 

discussions, 146 

equipment, 134, 135 

exercises, 149 

farm lessons, 386 

journals, 148 

laboratory, 135 

laboratory work, 137-139 

observations, 146 

project, 282, 283, 284 

project list, 290 
mechanics, 210 

questions, 149 

readings, 148 

references, 148 

scoring, 141 

short courses, 145 

survey, 142 

things to do, 147 
solve, 147 
Dairying, aids in, 142 

aim in, 134 

chapter, 134-149 

in community, 141 

in grades, 144 

in rural schools, 144 

lesson, 136 
Dark-room, 319, 321, 323 
Debates, farm management, 241 
Deduction, 37 
Demonstration, cholera, 117 

table, 323 
Demonstrations, farm, 406 
in agronomy, 78 
time for, 8 
Desk, 323 
De-tasseling, 306 
Deveneau classification, 369 
Dewey classification, 369, 371 
Discoveries, agronomy, 104 
animal husbandry, 128 
dairying, 146 



424 



INDEX 



Discoveries, farm management, 242 

horticulture, 200 

poultry, 165 

in shop work, 220 

soils, 264 
Discussions, agronomy, 104 

animal husbandry, 128 

dairying, 146 

farm management, 241 

soils, 264 
Diseases, of plants, 383 

trips to study, 390 
Disking skill, 90 
Domestic science garments, 12 
Drainage leveling, 265 

trips, 393 
Drawing, charts, 344, 357, 359, 360 
Drill, efficiency in, 63 
Drilling seeds, 90 
Drills, mechanical, 222 
Drives (see Campaigns) 
Duplicator, school, 330 
Dust mulch, 255 

Eggs, preserving, 161 
Electrical connections, 320 
Engineering chapter, 205-227 

course, 205 

projects, 213, 297 
Engineering (see also Mechanics) 
Enterprise (see Project) 
Equipment, adapting, 330 

agronomy, 95 

animal husbandry. 111 

chapter, 317-331 

dairy, 134, 135 

exercises, 331 

horticulture, 172, 176 

land laboratory, 311 

lists, 416 

place for, 330 

poultry, 152 

propagation, 172 

questions, 331 

references, 331 

shop, 206, 207 

soUs, 250 
Erosion, 257 

Examinations, written, 69 
Excursions, farm management, 237 
Exercises, agronomy, 78, 79, 106 

animal husbandry, 132 

community, 412 

cattle, 121 

dairy, 149 

equipment, 331 



Exercises, farm management, 235, 246 

gardening, 181 

graduation, 399-401 

horticulture, 181-189, 203 

illustrative material, 362 

in methods, 70 

land laboratory, 315 

library, 374 

management, 34 

mechanical, 226 

organization, 24 

poultry, 167 

project, 299 

sheep, 118, 120 

soils, 268 

swine, 119 
Exhibits, classified, 397 

fair, 400 

school, 395 

Thanksgiving, 396 
Experimental plots, 254 
Ex-soldiers in agriculture, 4 
Extension work, 385 

Fair booths, 396 
exhibits, 400 
Fairs, community, 395-397 
Fall festivals, 398 
Farm demonstrations, 406 

engineering (see Engineering) 
equipment, studying, 235 
journals, using, 366 
journals, table, 367 
machinery, 383 
management, books, 245 

bulletins, 246 

charts, 238 

chapter, 228-247 

class work, 229-231 

course, 228 

debates, 241 

discoveries, 242 

discussion, 241 

details, 237 

excursions, 237 

exercises, 235, 246 

in grades, 239 

journals, 246 

laboratory work, 231-235 

lessons, 240 

methods, 228 

observations, 243 

projects, 295 

questions, 247 

readings, 244 

rural schools, 239 



INDEX 



425 



Farm management, slides, 238 
short courses, 239 
surveys, 237 
things to do, 244 
solve, 243 
mechanics, chapter, 205-227 

(see Mechanics) 
plans, 232 
power, 211, 213 
power equipment, 207 
practice, emphasis on, 14 
practice with sheep, 118-120 
problems, 314 
shop work', 320 
shop work (see Shop work) 
structures, planning, 383 
study of horses, 115 
Farmers' institutes, 403 
organizations, 405 
Farms, large, 314 
studies at, 81 
Federal Board pamphlets, 416 
/ Feed, green, 162 

record forms, 277 
Fertile eggs, producing, 161 
FertiHzer tests, 251, 254 
Field crop charts, 87, 88 
crops, aim of, 74 

in vocational schools, 74 
in rural schools, 103 
local character of, 74 
mechiinics in, 211 
projects, 287 
teaching, 74-108 
time for each, 8 
values, 8 
(see Agronomy) 
exercises, 235 
observation method, 57 
selection of corn, 90, 91 
cotton, 92 
wheat, 92 
studies, 80 
corn, 82 
soUs, 257 
trip conveyances, 59 

outlines, 80 
trips, conduct of, 81 

in agronomy, 79, 80 
notes on, 8i 
subject for, 82 
work time, 8 
Figures, chart, 344-346 
FiUng and storing, 360-362 

pictures and slides, 360, 362 
FUms, 358 



Films, moving picture, 101, 102 

obtaining, 358 

using, 358, 359 
Firms for samples, 416 
Fixative, chart, 338 
Fixtures, room, 320 
Food for institute, 377 
Formal steps, 38 
Forms, record, 277 

project book, 273 
Frame, chart making, 336 
Fruit cuttings, 381 

exercises, 183, 189 

lessons, 391 

projects, 193 

trees, work with, 307 
Fruits to judge, 382 
Furniture, 317-328 

for room, 323 

Garden chart, 335 

exercise, 181, 185-187 
home, 308 
plan, 335 
projects, 193, 293 
school, 174 
tools, 175 

trips, 189, 191, 392 
Gardening for children, 195 
Garments for work, 12 
Goat associations, 418 
Good order necessary, 32 
Governing in school, 34 . 
Grades, animal husbandry in, 12b 
dairying in, 144 
farm management in, 239 
organization in, 12 
poultry in, 163 
rope work in, 16 
shop work in, 218 
soUs in, 263 
Graduating exercises, 399, 401 

topics, 401 
Grafting scions, 381 
Grafts, making, 169 
Grain judging, 379 

to treat, 380 
Grape prunmg 182 
Greenhouse, school, 176, diz, o^o 

small, 318 
Group project, 270, 278 
Grounds, plan for, 302 
Gymnasium, school, 323 

Harness work, 207 
Handicaps, overcoming, 4 



426 



INDEX 



Harvesting skill, 93 
Harvest picnics, 398 
Hatches, percentage of, 160 
Haying skill, 93 
Hectograph making, 419 
Heuritis method, 58 
High school, organization in, 12 
pubhcations, 411 
training class, 16, 18 
Hog associations, 418 

cot, 285 

oiler, 209 

pastures, 285 

project, 290 
Home garden, 308 

projects in agronomy, 82-85 
(see Projects) 
Horse, farm lessons, 389, 390 

project mechanics, 210 

projects, 291 

records, 417 
Horses, examining, 130 

judging, 110 

study on farms, 115 

work with, 118 
Horticulture, aim in, 169 

chapter on, 169-204 

charts, 192 

class work, 176 

course, 169, 170 

discoveries, 200 

equipment, 172-176 

exercises, 203 

laboratory work, 183-187 

lesson in, 178, 179 

mechanics, 210 

methods in, 172, 178 

observations, 201 

pictures, 193 

practice, 177-182 

projects, 193 

questions, 204 

reading, 198 

references, 199 

rural school, 195, 196 

short courses, 197, 198 

slides, 192 

surveys, 191, 192 

things to do, 202 
to solve. 202 

trips, 187-189 

work, 310 
Hotbed, 175 

chart, 359 

drawing, 359 

making, 176 



Hotbed, project, 179 
How to equip, 317-331 
study, 42 

Ice cream making, 138 
Illustrations for press, 409 
Illustrative material in agronomy, 76 

materials, 416 
Improvement project, 270 

projects, mechanics in, 211 
Income, calculating, 280 

records, 280 
Incubator operation, 154 
Index, card, 372 
Individual project, 270 
Induction, 37 

Infertile eggs, producing, 161 
Ink, chart, 338 
Inoculate seeds, 379 
Inoculation, blackleg, 143 
Inquiries, special, 123 
Insect enemies, 382 
Institute, food for, 377 
Institutes, farmers', 403 
Instruction booths, 396 

visual, 332 
Instructions on projects, 283 ■ 

written, 283 

Jack associations, 417 
Journals, agiicultural, 367 

agronomy, 106 

animal husbandry, 132 

dairy, 148 

farm management, 246 

poultry, 167 

soils, 268 

table for, 367 

using, 366 
Judging bleachers, 319 

cattle, 111 

contest, 95 

corn, 379 

grain, 379 

horses, 110 

livestock, 57 

skill in, 94 

soils, 258 J 

Kafir, selecting, 81 
Kewaunee desk, 324, 325 
Knowledge assumed, 36 

Laboratory containers, 97 
dairy, 135 
exercises, soils, 256 
for agronomy, 96 



INDEX 



427 



Laboratory, land, 301-316 
method, 50 
soils, 250 
study of corn, 94 
study of potatoes, 79 
table, 323, 324 
table tops, 420 
time, 8 

work, animal husbandry, 115, 
118, 119, 120 
dairy, 137-140 
farm management, 231-237 
fruit, 183-187 
gardening, 185-187 
horticulture, 183-187 
poultry, 155 
related to projects, 158 
soils, 253 
Labor income, 280 
Lambs, docking, 118 
Land drainage work, 393 
laboratory, a need, 301 
cabbage on, 313 
care of, 312 
chapter on, 301-316 
characteristics, 301 
equipment, 311 
exercises, 315 
garden, 313 
gardening, 311 
plans for, 302 
plants on, 313 
practice, 306 
profitable, 313 
questions, 315 
references, 316 
skiUs, 304 
ten acre, 309 
upkeep, 303 
uses, 303-311 
Landscape gardening trips, 191 
practice, 392 
projects, 295 
work, 194, 310 
Lantern slides, 102, 238 

soils, 261 
Lanterns, 349 
good, 328 
Lane classification, 369 
Large school farms, 314 
Leadership, rural, 404 
Lecture method, 52 
Lesson in animal husbandry, 127 
dairying, 136 
farm management, 240 
horticulture, 178 



Lesson in outlines, 416 

poultry, 164 

^oils, 252 

written, 60 
Lessons, beef farm, 389 

dairy farm, 386 

in orchards, 391 

landscape, 392 

poultry farm, 386 

sheep farm, 387 

swine farm, 387 
Less prominent aims, 62 
Letters, chart, 337, 341 
Leveling by students, 215 

for drainage, 265 
Libraries, related, 374 
Library arrangement, 372 

books, 365 

bulletins, 366 

chapter, 364-375 

classifying, 369-373 

exercises, 374 

importance, 364 

location, 373 

organizing, 364 

periodicals, 366 

questions, 374 

references, 375 

selecting, 364 

shelves shown, 372, 373 

traveling, 374 
Lice remedies, 162 
Lighting system, 211 
Lime-sulfur making, 307 
Lime survey, 260 
Liming couplet, 253 
Livery stable visited, 17 
Livestock for school, 384 

project, 274, 276 

time for, 9 

values, 9 
Location, library, 373 

Machine shed, 360 
Machinery, charge for, 278 

for field crops, 103 

operation, 213 

studying, 212 

to repair, 383 

work, 217 
Machines, on farms, 235 
Magazine table, 367 
Major projects, 271 
Making charts, 340 

slides, 354 
Manage, how to, 26 



428 



INDEX 



Management and projects, 298 

chapter, 26-35 

details, 237 

exercises, 34 

good, 31 

questions, 34 

references, 35 
Manager, teacher as, 2G 
Map, community, 233 
Maps, available, 347 
Market, roadside, 245 
Mashes, wet and dry,- 162 
Material for press, 408 

in agronomy, 76 
Materials, chart, 334 

storage of, 95 
Measuring and testing, 68 
Meat for institute, 377 
Mechanical discussions, 221 

drills, 222 

problems, 223 

observations, 221 
Mechanics, aid in, 214 

and physics, 214 

chapter, 205-227 

chart, 210 

class work, 208, 209 

exercises, 226 

in projects, 209-211 

journals, 226 

methods in, 205 

projects, 297 

questions, 226 

readings, 219 

references, 227 

short courses in, 219 

surveys, 213 

trips, 215, 216, 394 
Meeting, class, 45 
Method, conversation, 57 

Heuritis, 58 

field observation, 57 

laboratory, 50 

lecture, 52 

problem, 54 

question, 47 

Socratic, 56 

textbook, 55 

topical, 46 

trial and error, 56 
Methods, attention to, 2 

animal husbandry, 109 

books on, 2 

chapter, 36-73 

combining, 60 

exercises, 70 



Methods, farm management, 228 

horticulture, 172 

mechanics, 205 

minor, 55 

poultry, 150 

questions, 70 

references, 72 
Milk records, 277 

testing, 140 

to test, 384 
Minnesota classification, 370, 371 
Minor projects, 271 
Models of schools, 400 
Motion projector, 329 
Moving picture films, 101, 102 
projector, 357 

pictures, 356 
Mule farm lessons, 390 

New plants for farms, 393 
Newspaper articles, 410 
Normal student training, 16, 18 
Notebook keeping, 282 
Notebooks for trips, 81 
Novels, agricultural, 365 
Noxious weeds, 383 
Nursery projects, 294 

Objective tests, 70 
•Observations, agronomy, 105 

animal husbandry, 129 

dairying, 146 

farm management, 243 

horticulture, 201 

mechanical, 221 , 

poultry, 165 

project, 274 

soils, 266 
Opaque projection pictures, 355 

projectors, 329 
Orchard exercises, 186-189 

layout, 199 

planting, 199, 200 

project hst, 294 

pruning, 180. 181 

renovation, 287 

studies, 190 

survey, 191. 192 

trips, 187-189 

work, 307 
Orchards, sttirting, 392 
Orchestra, school, 378 
Order of considering crops, 75 

necessity of, 32 
Organization chapter, 7-25 

class, 15-17 



INDEX 



429 



Organization, exercises, 24 

in grades, 12 

in high schools, 12 

in rural schools, 11 

questions, 24 

references, 25 
Organizations, cooperative, 405 
Organizing curriculum, 7-15 

institutes, 403 

library, 364 
Outlines for surveys, 86, 159, 192, 
214, 260 

projects, 273 

trips, 157 
Oxen for work, 236 

Pageant, agricultural, 401 
Paper, chart, 338 
Papers, school, 411 
Perennials to plant, 382 
Periodicals in hbrary, 366 

using, 366 

table, 367 
Physics and mechanics, 214 

in soils, 261 
Picture projector, 357 

taking, 351-354 
Pictures, agriculture, 330 

agronomy, 100, 101 

chart, 346, 348 

moving, 356 

of projects, 279 

projection, 355 

wall, 348 
Pig-club boy, 285 
Pig projects, 116, 117, 285 
Placards, 347, 348 
Plan of garden, 335 

work shop, 209 
Planning a field trip, 80 

farm structures, 383 
Plans, land laboratory, 302 

of projects, 272 

farm, 232 

writing, 272 
Plant diseases, 383 

propagation, 172 
project, 286 

production trip, 393 

supplies, sources of, 100 
Planters, studying, 212 
Planting trees, 200 
Plants for farms, new, 393 
Plot trials, soils, 262 
Plots, experimental, 254 
Plowing skill, 89 



Post-mortem studies, 119 
Posts of concrete, 221 
Potato varieties, 399 
Potatoes, study of, 79 

treated, 380 
Poultrv, aims in, 150 

bulletins, 167 

chapter, 150-168 

class work, 153 

content of course, 150 

discoveries, 165 

equipment, 152 

exercises, 167 

farm lessons, 386 

feeds, 162 

figures, 345 

house in project, 152, 153 

in rural schools, 162 

in town grades, 163 

journals, 167 

laboratory work, 155 

lesson, 164 

mechanics, 210 

methods in, 150 

observations, 165 

projects, 158, 292 

questions, 168 

readings, 165 

records, 277 

references, 167 

review work, 155 

short courses, 164 

shows, 158 

surveys, 158, 159 

things to do, 166 
to solve, 166 

trap nesting, 160 

trials, 160, 161 

trips, 156, 157 
Power equipment, 207 

on farm, 211, 213, 218, 223 

work with, 213 
Practice, soils, 265 
Practices, farm, 14 
Preparation for table tops, 420 

of teacher, 43 
Preserving eggs, 161 
Press, articles for, 410 

illustrations for, 409 

material for, 408 

responsible to, 29 

use of, 407 

why use, 407 
Prices of feed and labor, 275 
Printed materials, 369 
Problem method, 54 



430 



INDEX 



Problems, community, 379 

mechanical, 223 

school farm, 314 

soils, 264 
Productive project, 270 
Products standardized, 399 
Professional attitude, 28 
Profit-sharing labor, 313 
Program, daily, 17-20 

in high school, 19 
Project agreement, 271 

beef, 278 

blanks, 416 

book forms, 273 

defined, 270 

exercises, 299 

features of, 270 

greenhouse, 312 

hotbed, 179 

in coldframe, 286 

junior, 284 

major and minor, 271 

observations, 274 

operations, 272 

outhnes, 273 

pictures, 279 

plans, 272 

questions, 299 

record forms, 277 

records, 274, 276 

score card, 263 

summary, 274 

tomato, 179 

topics, 272 

citations, 273 

with calves, 113 
turkeys, 151 

work, absence for, 298 
in poultry, 152, 153 
soils, 257, 265, 266, 267 
Projects, agronomy, 82-85 

and management, 298 

and school studies, 297 

at school, 158 

baby beef, 114 

beautifying, 193, 194 

bee, 288, 289, 294 

beef. 291 

chapter, 270-300 

corn, 281 

cotton, 92 

crop, 274, 275, 287 

dairy, 282-284, 290 

farm management, 295 

fruit, 13, 193 

garden, 193, 293 



Projects, group, 270 

hog, 290 

horse, 291 

how to visit, 284 

improvement, 270 

individual, 270 

kinds of, 270, 271 

landscape, 295 

livestock, 274, 276 

mechanics, 212, 297 

mechanics in, 209-211 

nursery, 294 

orchard, 190, 287, 294 

pig, 116, 117, 285 

poultry, 292 

productive, 270 

relating topics to, 76 

scope of, 271 

sheep, 291 

small fruit, 293 

soils, 252, 289 

steps in, 352-354 

trials, 270 

visited by students, 285 

visiting, 33, 280, 281 

women in, 13 
Projection pictures, 355 
Projector, motion picture, 329, 357 

opaque, 329 
Propagating frame, projection, 286 
Pruning, heavy, 188 

orchard, 13 

practice, 180-182 

tools, 173 

trips, 391 
Psychology, knowledge of, 36 
Publications, high school, 411 
Pupils, assigning, 15 

classification, 15 

Question and answer method, 47 
Questioning, 47-50 
Questions, agronomy, 107-108 

animal husbandry, 133 

community, 413 

dairy, 149 

equipment, 331 

farm management, 247 

horticulture, 204 

illustrative material, 362 

land laboratory, 315 

library, 374 

management, 34 

mechanical, 226 

methods, 70 

on organization, 24 



INDEX 



431 



Questions, project, 299 
soils, 269 

Readings, animal husbandry, 128 
dairy, 148 

farm management, 244 
horticulture, 198 
mechanics, 219 
poultry, 165 
soils, 266 
Reasons for using press, 407 
Records, examining, 33, 280 
keeping, 276, 282 
milk and butter, 277 
of income, 280 
of operations, 274 
of weights, 277 
poultry, 277 
uniformity, 275 
Rectangular surfaces on charts, 342 
Recitation, conduct of, 61 
in horticulture, 179 
teaching portion of, 62 
time for, 8 
Reciting topics, 47 
Reference books, 105, 106 
References, animal husbandry, 131 
dairy, 148 
equipment, 331 
farm management, 245 
horticulture, 199 
illustrative material, 363 
land laboratory, 316 
Ubrary, 375 
management, 35 
mechanics, 225, 227 
methods, 72, 73 
on organization, 25 
poultry, 167 
soils, 267 
Relation to community, 28 
to co-workers, 28 
to supervisor, 28 
Reports, analysis of, 275, 276 
Residence built by students, 219 
Responsibihty of teachers, 32 
Responsible to press, 29 
Review, when to, 68 

work, 114 
Reviews, conducting, 67 
poultry, 155 
purposes of, 66 
Revolvmg sUde holder, 355 
Ridgeway classification, 369 
Roads, bad, 289 

condition of, 230 



Roadside market, 245 
Room, social, 377 
Rooms, agriculture, 317 

and furniture, 317-328 

arrangement of, 317 
Rope work, 16, 208 
Rotation, school, 11 
Rubber type, 337 
Rural leadership, 404 
Rural school grounds, 302 

horticulture, 195, 196 

organization, 11 

poultry, 162 

rotation in, 11 

shop work, 217 

soils work, 262 

supervision, 14 
Rural schools, agronomy in, 103 

animal husbandry in, 126 

dairying in, 144 

farm management in, 239 

Sample, illustrative, 99 
Samples of soil, 250 
Scab, treating, 380 
Schedule, 17-20 
agriculture, 17 
high school, 19 
necessity, 17 
School a community center, 376 
cooperation, 394 
exhibits, 395 
farm problems, 314 
garden, 174 
gardening, 195 
grades (see Grades) 
greenhouse, 176 

management (see Management i 
models of, 400 
orchestra, 378 
papers, 411 
shop, 320 

work in commvmity, 385-412 
Sciences and animal husbandry, 126 
Scions, grafting, 381 
Scope of projects, 271 
Score card, explained, 21-23 
project, 283 
textbook, 20-24 
Scoring dairy cattle, 141 

textbooks, 20 
Screen for sUdes, 321 

picture, 350 
Seasonal treatment of crops, 75 
Seed analysis, 78 

corn selection, 90 



432 



INDEX 



Seed corn to test, 379 
selection, 92, 306 
testing, 379 
Seeding, methods of, 90 
Seeds, drilling, 90 
to clean, 380 
to inoculate, 379 
Selecting a library, 364 
Selection of seed corn, 90, 91, 94 
cotton, 92 
wheat, 92 
Self-feeder, 209 
Session of class, 45 
Sheep associations, 418 
farm lessons, 387 
project mechanics, 210 
projects, 291 

studies on farms, 118-120 
work with, 118-120 
Shop discoveries, 220 
equipment, 206, 207 
erecting, 224 
farm, 360 
problems, 206 
Shop room, plan, 209, 320 
Shop work (see also Mechanics) 
chapter, 205-227 
community, 216 
in grades, 218 
lands, 211, 212, 220, 225 
rural schools, 217 
Short courses, agricultural, 404 
agronomy, 104 
animal husbandry, 127 
banquet, 18 
dairying, 145 
farm management, 239 
horticulture, 197, 198 
mechanics, 219 
poultry, 164 
soils, 263 
Shows, poultry, 158 
Silage chart, 333 
Silo work of students, 215 
Skeletons, 124 
Skill defined, 64 
agriculture, 65 
disking, 90 
harvesting, 93 
hay making, 93 
judging projects, 94 
plowing, 89 
reviews, 67 
SldlLs, agronomy, 89 

animal husbandry, 130 
horticulture, 304 



Skills, mechanical, 222 
Slide holder, 355 

transparency, 355 
Slides, borrowed, 329 

chapter, 332-363 

farm management, 238 

horticulture, 192 

making, 354 

obtaining, 351 

pictures for, 351 

soil, 261 

uses, 350 
Small fruit projects, 293 
Smith-Hughes act, 1 
Smut, treating, 380 
Social room, 377 
Socratic method, 56 
Soil, baked, 255 

containeis, 251 

laboratory work, 253 

production factors, 249 

slides, 261 

siu'veys, 260 

tests, 251 
Soils, aim in, 248 

and other subjects, 248, 261 

books, 267 

bulletins, 268 

chapter, 248-269 

charts, 260 

class work, 251 

discoveries, 264 

discussions, 264 

equipment, 250 

erosion, 257, 258 

exercises, 256 

harrowing, 265 

in grades, 263 

journals, 268 

judging, 258 

laboratory, 250 

lesson, 252 

observations, 266 

projects, 252, 257-259 

project work, 265-267 

questions, 269 

readings, 266 

rural schools, 262 

samples, 250 

short courses, 263 

studying, 257, 258 

testing, 252 

things to do, 267 
to solve, 264 

topics, 248 
to test, 385 



INDEX 



433 



Soils, trials, 262 

trips, 394 
Soldiers in agriculture, 4 
Specimens, containers for, 97 

typical, 330 
Spray outfits, using, 177 
Spraying for moth, 178 

lime-sulfur, 190 

trees 307 
Stand, chart, 339, 340 
Standardized products, 399 
Steps, formal, 38 

in project, 279 

shown in picture, 352-354 
Stereographs, 356 
Stereoscope, 329 
Storage of materials, 95 

room, 322 

space, 319 
Store house, potato, 201 
Stories, agricultural, 365 
Storing illustrative material, 360-362 
Stock judging, 57 

time for, 9 
Strawberries to plant, 382 
Student chairs, 325 

labor, 313 

shop work, 206-208 
Students visit projects, 285 
Studies and projects, 297 

at farms, 81 
Study, methods of, 41 

supervised, 43 

teaching how to, 42 
Summary, project, 274, 275 
Supervised study, 43 

study time, 8 
Supervision of teacher, 29 
Supervising agriculture, 14 
Supervisor, teacher as, 30 

relation to, 28 
Survey cards, 122 

returns, use of, 87 

outhnes, 86 
Surveys, agronomy, 85, 86 

animal husbandry, 121, 122 

dairy, 142 

lime, 260 

management, 237 

mechanics, 213 

orchard, 191 

poultry, 158, 159 

soil, 260 

summarizing, 87 

swine, 122 
Sweet potato storage, 201 

28 



Swine associations, 418 
exercises in, 119 
farm lessons, 387 
project mechanics, 210 
survey, 122 

Table, laboratory, 324, 326 

tops, finishing, 420 
Teacher as supervisor, 30 

field of, 2 

needs of, 2 

responsible, 32 

supervised, 29 

training work, 29 

words to, 34 
Teacher's preparation, 43 
Teaching, 61 

agriculture, managing, 26-35 

aided by management, 31 

how to study, 42 

in recitation, 62 

methods of, 36 

organizing, 7-25 
Terraces, making, 257, 258 
Terracing work, 393 
Test, the, 62 
Testing, 61, 62 

and measuring, 68 

cattle, 142 

milk, 140, 384 

seed, 379 

soils, 385 
Tests, fertilizer, 251 

objective, 70 
Textbook, choosing, 20 

method, 55 

score card, 20-24 

scoring, 20 

the, 20-24 
Things to do in agronomy, 105 
Three T's, 61 
Three-year rotation, 11 
Tillage trips, 394 
Tomato project, 179 
Tools for shop, 206 
Topical method, 46 
Topic citations, 273 
Topics for alfalfa project, 76 

for commencement, 401 

from projects, 272 

notes on, 273 

reciting, 47 

related to project, 76 
Top-working trees, 307 
Town grades (see Grades) 
Tractor, operation of, 267 



434 



INDEX 



Tractor vs. six horses, 236 
Tractors, studying, 218 
Training, 61 

Training class in high school, 16 
Trap nests, 159, 160 
Treating for scab, 380 

for smut, 380 
Tree planting, 200 
Trial and error, 56 

project, 270 
Trips, beef cattle, 389 

dairy, 386 

drainage, 393 

garden, 392 

horse farm, 389, 390 

horticulture, 187-189 

landscape, 392 

mechanics, 215, 216, 394 

orchard pruning, 391 

poultry, 156, 157, 386 

sheep, 387, 388 

soil, 394 

spraying, 391 

swine, 387 

terracing, 393 

tillage, 394 

to study diseases, 390 
Tuberculosis, testing for, 142 
Turkey project, 151 
Type, rubber, 337 

Uniformity in records, 275 



Upkeep, land laboratory, 303 
Use of the book, 5 
Uses of land, 303-311 

general, 303 

specific, 306 

Vegetable projects, 293 
Ventilation, building, 384 
Views, stereoscopic, 193 
Visit projects, how to, 284 
Visiting projects, 33, 280 
troubles in, 289 
Visual instruction, 332 

chapter, 332-363 
exercises, 362 
questions, 362 
references, 363 
Vocational education law, 1 
Vocational market, 245 

Water-pressui'e system, 211 
Water system, chart, 361 
Weeds of region, 383 
Wheat selection, 92 
Women in projects, 13 
Work in agronomy, 76 
Working in orchard, 307 
Work shop, plan, 209 
Written examinations, 69 

instructions, 283 

lesson, 60 



